ESSAYS 

ON 

SOME OF THE DIFFICULTIES 

IN THE 

WRITINGS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL, 

AND IN 

OTHER PARTS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

BY 

RICHARD WHATELY, D.D., 

ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN. 

iv oh icTi dv(rv6riT<i rtua, h oi afjLci^eis Koi aa'T'fipiKToi ffTpe^Xovcri. 

2 PETEK iii. 16. 

FEOM TEE EIGHTH LONDOI^ EDITION. 




WARREN F. DRAPER. 

BOSTON: GOULD & LINCOLN. NEW YOUK: HURD & HOUGHTON. 

PHILADELPHIA: SMITH, ENGLISH, AND COMTANT. 
CINCINNATI: G. S. BLANCHAED. 

18 65. 




THESE ESSAYS 

Are published with the sanction of the late Archbishop Whately. They 
are reprinted from copies furnished to the American Publisher by the 
Author, and contain his latest revisions. 

The Essays on " Some of the Peculiarities of the Christian Religion " 
will follow in the same style. 



AUDOVER : 
STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED 
BY W. P. DRAPER. 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTIOiT. 

Connection of the former series of Essays with the present, 9; the Scrip- 
tures not to be regarded with dread or disgust on account of the 
diflaculties to be found in them, 10 ; outline of the present Series . 13 

Approbation of any argument no test of its real effect 16 

ESSAY 1. 

ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 

§ I. — Christian religion distinguished from Paganism, and characterized 
by its claims to truth as established by evidence, and its demand of 
faith in that truth 19 

§ II. — Liability of Christians to act inconsistently with this characteristic, 
by not steadily following truth 26 

§ III. — Necessity of self-examination as to this point, 28 ; objections to 
the principle of universally pursuing and propagating truth . . 29 

§ IV. — Danger of men's flattering themselves without sufficient grounds 
that they are lovers of truth; maxim of making it not the second 
but the first question. What is the truth ? 37 ; obstacles to the cultiva- 
tion of this habit, — dislike of doubt, 38; love of originality, 40; exces- 
sive deference for authority, 40; views of expediency 49 

§ V. — Cautionary maxims : no unfair argument to be used, 49 ; nor erro- 
neous notion countenanced, 50; no dread to be entertained of the 
progress of science, 54; human approbation not often bestowed on 
the lover of truth 56 

Note A. On Christ's disclaimer of a temporal kingdom . . 57 
ESSAY 11. 

ON THE DIFFICULTIES AND THE VALUE OF PAUL'S WRITINGS 

GENERALLY. 

§ I. — Paul more exposed than any of the apostles to the attacks both of 



4 



CONTENTS. 



open enemies and false friends, — both personally, 59, and in his 
writings 62 

§ II. — Amhiguity of the word Gospel, 63 ; full instruction in the Christian 
scheme not to be found in the four evangelists, 64; but in the apos- 
tolic epistles, 71; especially Paul's, 71; danger of misinterpretation 
not to deter us from the study of them 73 

§ III. — Study of Paul's writings not to be deferred till a mass of theolog- 
ical learning has been acquired from other sources 75 

§ ly. — Paul's writings dreaded chiefly from the unacceptableness of 
some of his doctrines, 79 ; the vehemence with which his works have 
been decried a proof of their importance ......... 79 



ESSAY III. 

ON ELECTION. 

Importance of explaining those parts of Scripture, especially, from 
which dangerous consequences have been drawn 83 

§ I. — In order to understand the Apostle Paul aright, we should be ac- 
quainted with his character and situation, 84; and with that of his 
hearers, 86; his continual reference to the Mosaic dispensation, 87 ; 
which was the shadow of the gospel 87 

§ II. — Disputes relative to election 90 

§ III. — Questions, whether under the former dispensation election was 
arbitrary 93 ; wTio were elected, 94 ; to wlvat the elect were chosen, 94 ; 
application, by analogy, to the gospel scheme, 96; confirmed by 
Paul's express authority, 97; and by the analogy of God's general 
providence, 100; no technical uniformity of language to be looked for 
in Scripture, 101 ; misinterpretations of Scripture produced by ante- 
cedent bias, 102; errors in reasoning committed on both sides . 105 

§ IV. — Metaphysical difficulties resulting from ambiguities of language, 
106; objections connected with the origin of evil dangerous for both 



parties 109 

§ V. — The chief object of inquiry to be, what truths are revealed, as 
being relative to man, and practically needful Ill 

§ YI. — The danger of misleading some and disgusting others not to be 
wantonly incurred 120 

Note A. Augustine's and Calvin's theory 122 

Note B. On the 17th Article 125 



CONTENTS. 



5 



ESSAY IV. 

ON PERSEVERANCE AND ASSURANCE. 

§ I. — The same apostle principally appealed to in support of the doc- 
trines of the final perseverance of the elect, and their full assurance 



of salvation 127 

§ II. — Apprehended danger from these doctrines apt to lead to an oppo- 

~ site danger 129 

^ III. — Mode in which both dangers are to be avoided 132 

§ IV. — Confirmation of the view here taken, from the example of Paurs 
conduct, 133; and from that of men in general 135 

Note A. On an imperfection of the English language, which may 
sometimes lead to a mistake as to the meaning of the sacred 
writers 140 



ESSAY V. 

ON THE ABOLITION OF THE MOSAIC LAW. 

§ I. — The Antinomian system supposed to be favored by Paul's declara- 
tion relative to the abolition of the law 143 

§ II. — Obligation of conscience not weakened by the Christian's freedom 
from the Levitical law 145 

§ III. — Importance of resting moral obligation on a right basis . . 148 
§ IV. — Speculative, less common than practical Antinomians, 149 ; lia- 
bility of men to content themselves with a literal observance of ex- 
press commands , 151 

§ y . — Principles substituted for rules, under the gospel dispensation 152 
Tendency to prefer precise injunctions to watchful self-government 153 

Note A. On Paul's reasons for continuing to observe the ceremo- 
nial law 156 

Note B. On the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Lord's Day 157 

ESSAY VL 

ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

§ 1. — Statement of the doctrine of the imputation of Adam's transgres- 
sion, and of the righteousness of Christ 167 

§ II. — Scripture authority on which it is made to rest, 172; interpretation 

of the passage appealed to 172 

1* 



6 



CONTENTS. 



§ III. — General drift of the Apostle in the passages which treat of the 
subject 176 

§ TV. — Liability of men to be biassed by the love of system, 180; no ac- 
curate and technical uniformity in the employment by the sacred 
writers of the word Justification 181 

§ V. — Evils indirectly resulting from erroneous interpretation of Scrip- 
ture 183 

Kote A. On the tendency toward unconscious Arianism . . 190 

ESSAY VII. 

ON APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS IN SCRIPTURE. 
§ I. — Difficulties of Scripture a reason for the attentive study of it . 193 
§ II. — Principles to be kept in mind in this study 195 

§ III. — The knowledge revealed, not speculative, but relative to man, and 
practical, 198; in language not scientific, but popular, 199; to be in- 
terpreted by comparing one passage with another, 199 ; especially 
those seemingly at variance 200 

§ TV. — Apparent contradictions of Scripture numerous, 201 ; for what 
purpose designed 203 

§ V. — The knowledge imparted of mysterious truths analogical and in- 
distinct 206 

Note A. On the Scripture use of the word Mystery . . « . 211 

ESSAY VIII. 

ON THE MODE OF CONVEYING MORAL PRECEPTS IN THE NEW 

TESTAMENT. 

Moral precepts of the New Testament often conveyed in apparent 
contradictions 213 

§ 1. — Reasons for the employment of this and other paradoxical form 215 
§ II. — Precepts, a literal compliance with which would be either impossi- 
ble, or absurd, or unimportant, 218; instance of the last kind . 224 

§ III. — The mode of instruction adopted sufficient for the candid and dil- 
igent, 225; for the opposite character none would have been suffi- 
cient 226 

ESSAY IX. 

ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

Indistinct notions entertained, at first, by the disciples, of the charac- 
ter of their Master . . 229 



CONTENTS. 



7 



I. — Promise of Jesus to send the Comforter not limited to the first a<2;e, 
nor relating to an abstract religious principle 231 

§ II. — Difference between the Jewish and the Christian churches in this 
respect 234 

§ III. — Points of resemblance, and of difference, between our condition 
and that of Christians in the first age, in respect of spiritual gifts 236 

^ lY. — Miraculous gifts peculiar to the primitive church, 238; for what 
purpose bestowed, 239; when and how withdrawn 242 

§ V. — Extraordinary and ordinary operations of the Spirit compared 242 

§ YI. The early Christians compared with those of the present day in 
respect of the signs of the gifts bestowed on each, 247; faith required 
in the indications of power to work miracles 247 

§ YII. — Equality, in the most Important point, between the primitive and 
the present church 255 

§ YIII. — Sign of the Christian's admission to the privilege of spiritual 
guidance, 260 ; design of the eucharist (note) 262. See Note A 269 

§ IX. — Example of the apostles to be followed by reversing in some 
points their procedure, 263; complete certainty as to the rectitude of 
our judgments unattainable 266 

Note A. On the figurative character of the eucharist . . . 269 
ESSAY X. 

ON SELF-DENIAL. 

§ I. — Mistakes and difllculties as to this point arising from an inatten- 
tive or a prejudiced perusal of Paul and other of the sacred writers 272 

§ II. — Warning of Jesus respecting the self-denial, sufferings, and sac- 
rifices required of his followers, contrasted with what would have 
been the procedure of any ■ — especially a Jewish — impostor or enthu- 
siast 275 

§ III. — No self -inflicted or gratuitous suffering required of the disciples 
of Jesus 278 

^ lY. — Tendency of mankind to attach merit to ascetic self-torture . 280 

§ Y. — False teachers disposed to combine ascetic mortifications with gen- 
eral licentiousness, the teaching of Jesus keeping clear of both . 283 

§ YI. — Practice of the apostles conformable to the lessons they had re- 
ceived from their Master 287 

§ YII. — Introduction into Christian churches of ascetic self-torture, in 
opposition to the precepts and practice of Jesus and his apostles, a 
proof of their divine mission 289 



8 



CONTENTS. 



§ VIII. — Indistinct and confused notions respecting fasting, arising from 
inattention to the senses of tlie word, and to the grounds and the objects 
of the practice 291 

§ IX. — Tlie word ''fast" often used to denote simply want of food, 
without reference to voluntary abstinence, 296; fasting an ordinary 
sign and accompaniment, according to Jewish usage, of mourning 
and of prayer 297 

§ X. — Strong injunctions to prayer by our Lord, in the New Testament, 
quite different from his mention of fasting 299 

§ XI. — What were the " days of mourning " by the disciples for the 
"bridegroom's being talven from them " 301 

5 XII. — Fasting one of the things left by the apostles to the decision of 
Christian churches, and of individuals 304 

§ XIII. — Danger of asceticism less palpable but not less real than that 
of sensual indulgences 307 

§ XIV. — What kind of mortification is inculcated by our Reformers 308 
Note A. On ascetic practices in Christian churches .... 310 

Notes B, C. On the decisions of our church respecting fasting . 311 
ESSAY XL 

ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 

§ I. — Controversies arising out of verbal differences 314 

§ II. — Importance of dwelling on points of practical agreement . . 318 

§ III. — Real difference between those who do and do not hold the pre- 
destinarian doctrine 321 

§ IV. — Inquiry into the practice of the primitive church with respect to 
baptism 323 

§ V. — The gospel viewed by the earliest Christians through the medium 
of the law 326 

§ VI. — Paul's view of the analogy between the Old and the New Dispen- 
sations 328 

§ VII. — Views of our Reformers concerning baptism 332 

^ VIII. — Importance of using various expressions to convey the same 

truth 336 

§ IX. — Effects produced by unchristian bitterness in controversy . 338 
Notes A— L 341 



INTEODUCTION. 



It was my object in a former series of Essays to set forth 
the importance of an earnest and studious attention to the 
Christian revelation. There is a notion, more commonly en- 
tertained than acknowledged, that the gospel is a mere author- 
itative republication of natural religion, — that consequently 
it is chiefly, if not solely, to those of unphilosophical and vul- 
gar minds, incapable of perceiving the internal evidence of 
this natural religion, and the intrinsic beauty of virtue, that 
such a revelation is important or needful, — and that, to the 
more intelligent and refined, it matters little whether or not 
they inquire minutely into the particulars of that revelation — 
whether they believe, or disbelieve, or doubt, its reality, or 
whether they even propose to themselves the question. With 
a view to counteract this (as it may be called) heresy of in- 
difference, — in my view, the most deadly of all errors, not 
excepting atheism, — I pointed out and dwelt on several 
'peculiarities of the Christian religion ; points wherein the 
gospel scheme differs from all other systems of religion — 
whether pretended revelations^ or avowedly the offspring of 
human reason — that have ever existed. And the contempla- 
tion of these peculiarities must evince, I thought, the impor- 
tance of carefully ascertaining whether the gospel revelation 
is real or fictitious ; and if real, of endeavoring to understand 



10 



INTRODUCTION. 



as fully as possible its character, and to embrace it heartily as 
a rule of life. While at the same time the consideration that 
Christianity differs thus widely from every other religious 
system, in many important points, and in many wherein they 
all agree, and, in those very points in which a true revelation 
might be expected to differ from any scheme of man's devising, 
— this consideration, I say, presents a phenomenon well de- 
serving the attention of such as are candidly inquiring for the 
evidences of this religion. For till unbelievers can propose 
some solution of this phenomenon other than the truth of the 
revelation (which in so many centuries they have never 
accomplished, nor, as far as I know, even attempted), it must 
afford, at the very least, a strong presumption that the religion 
is really from God. 

These disquisitions seemed to lead naturally to some re- 
marks as to the mode in which the Scriptures should be 
studied. For if it be supposed (and the notion is very preva- 
lent) that great part of them consist of a series of perplexing 
difficulties, serving only to exercise the ingenuity of theologians 
in endless controversies, and barren of all edifying application, 
or even leading to dangerous practical consequences, the result 
will be, that the student's attention will be confined to a small 
portion of the sacred records, and to that portion which will, 
by itself, furnish the most imperfect view of the peculiar 
doctrines of Christianity, — a result which cannot fail to foster 
the error above alluded to, of undervaluing the gospel revela- 
tion, and regarding it as a mere authoritative declaration of 
certain moral truths. 

The first step, then, in an examination of the gospel scheme, 
after we have once been convinced, generally, that it is worth 
examining, is to guard against the bias to which we are liable, 



INTRODUCTIOIT. 



11 



either from the apprehension of perplexing difficulties in it, or 
from a suspicion of the inutility or dangerous tendency of its 
most remarkable doctrines. Such a bias cannot fail to deprave 
the judgment as to the real character of the gospel revelation. 
In the preliminary Essay, accordingly, I have endeavored 
not only to inculcate the importance of such an earnest pursuit 
of truth, and steady adherence to it, as may overcome the 
seductions of indolence and of seeming expediency, but I 
have pointed out also the several modes of self-deceit by which 
men persuade themselves that they are, when in fact they are 
not, sincere lovers of truth ; and the way in which that ten- 
dency may be best combated ; namely, by assigning in every 
case, not, as is often done, the second, but the jii^st place to 
the inquiry. What is tkue ? 

Much that has occurred since the first appearance of this 
Essay has raised my estimate of the importance of the subject. 
When I first published it, and also, not very long after, the 
one on Pious Frauds (3d Series), I did so, of course, under 
the conviction that the dangers therein adverted to, of being 
seduced from the straight path of ingenuous veracity, were 
neither unreal nor trifling. And I was confirmed in this 
conviction — groundless as it may have seemed to some — by 
the judgment of several whose opinion appeared to me entitled 
to much deference ; including — strange as it may seem — 
persons who, a few years after, came forward to defend and 
act upon principles diametrically opposite to those which I had 
been enforcing. But though convinced of the necessity of 
watchfulness against deviations from the straight line of simple, 
uncompromising sincerity, I was not prepared for such an out- 
break as subsequently took place of open defiance of truth. 
In common with many others, though to a less degree than 



12 



INTEODUCTIOlSr. 



some of them, I was astonished at the plain avowal of the 
system of Reserve, ■'^ Double-doctrine, Diseiplina Arcani, 
CEconomy, or Phenakism, as it has variously been denom- 
inated. And I was even still more astonished that so many 
should be found who could not, or would not, perceive, palpa- 
ble as it was, this avowal, and the corresponding conduct, even 
when pointed out to them. 

But most of all was I astonished and shocked to observe 
that many who did perceive, and censure, the disingenuousness 
of the system, yet continued to speak with admiration of its 
advocates as eminently holy men, and as deserving, on the 
whole, the gratitude of the church for their alleged services in 
respect of certain rites and forms ; making the " tithes of mint 
and rue and cummin " a kind of set-off against the neglect of 
the weightier matters of the law ; " professing to agree with 
them in the main, and thus lending their aid towards the prev- 
alence of a party whose delinquencies in the most fundamental 
points they did see and confess. 

Some years later still, yet further practical avowals of a 
system of insincerity opened the eyes of many who had before 
disbelieved its existence, and excited surprise as well as dis- 
gust in these ; though not in those who had, several years 
before, called attention to those principles and practices, not 
as something to be dreaded hereafter, but as actually existing 
and plainly discernible. And I would suggest that there is 
something of a presumption in favor of the judgment, on this 
subject, of those who plainly saw, and pointed out, the disin- 
genuous procedure which others wholly overlooked then (even 
though the former invited attention to it), but which they now 

1 See Dr. West's Sermon on Keserve. 



INTEODUCTION. 



13 



acknowledge to be such as they had been (vamly) forewarned 
of. 

I would also further suggest, to those who have been in the 
habit of eulogizing and professing to assent to — on the whole 
and in the main — the system which they now perceive to be 
thus tainted, morally as well as doctrinally, to consider whether 
they are not bound to come forward with an open protest 
against principles and practices which they admit to be funda- 
mentally wrong. To say that the advocates of that system 
have taught much that is true and good and useful, is no more 
than might be said of Mahomet, who protested against poly- 
theism and image- worship. If any person in his time (and it 
is likely there were some such) who wholly disbelieved, and 
privately censured, his pretensions to inspiration, and his claim 
to be the promised Paraclete, had, in public, contented them- 
selves with praising his inculcation of the divine unity and his 
exhortations to almsgiving, and dvv^elt on the gratitude due to 
him for the good service he had done, we should regard them 
as wilful abettors of the cause of known falsehood. For, the 
more there is of good and true in any system, the more need 
there is to warn men against that admixture of evil and false, 
which is thus enabled to gain the greater currency. 

Some there are, however, who do not even yet perceive the 
real character of the system, or the danger of being drawn 
into it. If even but one of these shall have been roused to 
increased vigilance by anything I have said in the first of 
these Essays, or elsewhere, I shall be thankful for such a 
result. At any rate, I shall have cleared my own con- 
science. 

In the second Essay, I have offered some remarks on the 

neglect or dread, prevalent among many persons, of the Apos- 
2 



14 



INTRODUCTION. 



tie Paul's writings ; on the causes which have produced this ; 
and the consequences to which it leads. 

In the succeeding four Essays, I have treated of certain 
doctrines which have given rise to much controversy, and 
particular views of which have mainly contributed to the 
dread many have felt of this apostle's writings. I have ac- 
cordingly endeavored to show that the doctrines in question, 
as taught by Paul, afford no just ground of alarm ; and that 
the extravagant representation of them that some have given 
has arisen from a hasty and partial view of the works of this 
apostle. In these Essays I have especially endeavored to set 
forth the importance of referring to the Old Testament as an 
interpreter, by analogy, of the New. 

I have been informed that some of the hearers of the 
discourse of which the third Essay contains the substance, un- 
derstood the argument in § II to be merely a repetition of 
Archbishop Sumner's in his valuable w^ork on "Apostolical 
Preaching." Such a misapprehension is, I trust, less likely to 
take place in the closet ; but to guard against the possibihty 
of it, it may be worth while here to remark, that though I 
coincide with Archbishop Sumner in his conclusion, the ar- 
guments by which we respectively arrive at it are different. 
The distinction which he dwells on is that between national 
and individual election ; that on which I have insisted, is, the 
distinction between election to certain privileges and to final 
reward; — he, in short, considers principally the parties chosen, 
whether bodies of men or particular persons ; I, the things 
to which they are chosen — whether to a blessing, absolutely ^ 
or to the offer of one, conditionally. 

Some other principles of interpretation, frequently over- 
looked, and very essential to the right understanding both 



INTRODUCTION. 



15 



of Paul's Epistles and of the other sacred writings, I have 
pointed out in the seventh and eighth Essays, as applicable to 
the doctrinal and to the moral precepts of the New Testament 
Scriptures. The use to be made of the apparent contradictions 
we so frequently meet with has been particularly dwelt on ; 
with a view to show that they ought not to be regarded, as is 
commonly done, in the light merely of difficulties to be sur- 
mounted, but as a peculiar and most wisely-contrived mode of 
instruction. 

In the ninth Essay, I have applied the principles before 
laid down to the ascertainment of the sense of Scripture re- 
specting the doctrine of spiritual influence, — a doctrine not 
only of the highest practical importance, and one concerning 
which the greatest difficulties have been started, but also 
one in respect of which, more perhaps than any other, Paul's 
authority has been confidently appealed to by some in support 
of the most extravagant conclusions, and for that reason depre- 
ciated or disregarded by others. 

In the tenth Essay, I have endeavored to trace out the real 
character, as set forth in Scripture, of Christian self-denial ; 
contrasting it with the ascetic mortifications which find a place 
in false or corrupted systems of religion, and which were 
introduced into Christianity through an inattentive or a preju- 
diced perusal of several passages in the works of the Apostle 
Paul and of other of the sacred writers. And I have pointed 
out that the errors alluded to, lamentable as have been their 
effects, serve to furnish a strong evidence of the divine origin 
of the genuine gospel. 

In treating of these subjects, it has been my aim, not to 
ascertain on each point everything that may be reasonably 
believed and plausibly maintained, but what we are bound 



16 



INTRODUCTION. 



to believe and to maintain as a part of the gospel revelation ; 
and this distinction I have more than once adverted to, as 
being one of the highest importance, and not seldom over- 
looked. 

In the prosecution of these inquiries, I have freely availed 
myself of whatever remarks or illustrations I chance to meet 
with in various authors, that appeared suitable to my purposes. 
As therefore there is, I trust, no novelty in the doctrines incul- 
cated, so there is no pretension to complete originality in the 
arguments adduced. If I shall have succeeded in selecting 
such as are at once sound and generally intelligible, and in 
arranging and expressing them in a perspicuous and inter- 
esting manner, the object proposed will have been accom- 
plished. 

I have only to add, that the design of the present work 
being, not so much to refute or to advocate the tenets of any 
particular person or party, by means of an appeal to Scripture, 
as to facilitate the interpretation of Scripture to those who are 
seeking in simplicity for divine truths, I trust it will be re- 
ceived by the candid, even among such as may in some points 
differ from me, with no feeling of party prejudice or hostile 
suspicion. 

I am well aware, however, that, as universal approbation is 
not to be looked for, so the greater part of that which an 
author does obtain will usually not be from those whom he 
has really most influenced. For, the effect produced by any 
book or speech of an argumentative character on any subjects 
whereon diversities of opinion prevail, may be compared — 
supposing the arguments to be of any force — to the effects of 
a fire-engine on a conflagration. That portion of the water 
which falls on solid stone walls, or on anything else that is 



INTRODUCTIOlSr. 



17 



incombustible, is poured out where it is not needed. That 
again which falls on blazing beams and rafters, is cast off in 
volumes of hissing steam, and will seldom avail to quench the 
fire. But that which is poured on woodwork that is just be- 
ginning to kindle may stop the burning ; and that which wets 
the rafters not yet ignited, but in danger, may save them from 
catching fire. Even so those who already completely concur 
with the writer, as to some point, will perhaps bestow high 
commendation on an able defence of the opinions they already 
held ; and those, again, who have fully made up their minds on 
the opposite side, are usually more likely to be displeased 
than to be convinced. But both of these parties are left 
nearly in the same mind as before. Those, however, who are 
in a hesitating and doubtful state, may very likely be decided 
by forcible reasons. Those, again, who have not hitherto con- 
sidered the subject, may be induced to adopt opinions which 
they find supported by the strongest arguments. 

And it will often happen that the same individual will be- 
long to every one of the above-mentioned classes, in reference 
to different parts of the same work. He will perhaps warmly 
approve of some parts which coincide with the views he has 
already fully adopted ; he will as strongly disapprove what is 
at variance with his own fixed opinions ; and he will perhaps 
be influenced by something that is said in reference to points 
on which he had not fully made up his mind. 

But the readiest and warmest approbation an author meets 

with, will usually be from those whom he has not convinced, 

because they were (in reference to that portion of his work 

which calls forth their applause) convinced already. And the 

effect the most important, and the most difficult to be produced, 

he will usually, when he does produce it, hear the least of. 
2* 



18 



INTRODUCTION. 



Those whom he may have induced to reconsider, and gradu- 
ally to alter their opinions, are not likely, for a time at least, 
to be very forward in proclaiming the change. 

The tenth and the eleventh Essays, which have been added 
to the later editions, have also been printed separately for the 
use of the purchasers of the former editions. 



ESSAY I 



ON THE LOYE OF TRUTH. 

§ I. That any one who undertakes to propagate or to 
maintain any religion should represent it as a 

^ *■ ^ Christian religion 

true one, and should demand reception for it on distinguished from 

Paganism, and 

that ground, seems to us of the present day so characterized by 

^ its claim to truth 

natural and unavoidable that many, probably, as estabushed by 
would be ready to take for granted that this dlmlnroAafthin 
must have been the case always ; — that the 
question of " true or false ? " must always have stood, as it cer- 
tainly ought to stand, on the very threshold of every inquiry 
respecting such a subject; and that all who adhered to an old, 
or embraced a new religious system, or rejected either, how- 
ever credulous, or prejudiced, or otherwise had judges of 
evidence they might be, yet must have supposed themselves at 
least to be determined by evidence^ of some kind or other, to be- 
lief or disbelief in the truth of what was proposed to them. 
And accordingly there are, probably, many who do not estimate 
the full force and importance of our Lord's reply to Pilate : " For 
this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness of 
the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice." 

A moderate acquaintance, however, with the habits and 
modes of thought which prevailed among the ancient heathen, 
may convince us that the real state of things was far from 



20 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



being such as the above reasoning would lead us to suppose. 
Their minds were, on this subject especially, estranged from 
the love of truth. Many circumstances, indeed, concurred to 
render them habitually indifferent to it. Among the learned, 
philosophical pursuits seem to have been originally introduced 
as an elegant recreation ^ ; and there can be no doubt that many 
at least attached themselves to this or that sect, not from any 
sincere conviction of the truth of its doctrines, but to furnish 
themselves with suitable topics for declamations. The schools 
of the philosophers were a kind of intellectual Palaestra ; and 
there was a close analogy between their disputation and the 
prevailing gymnastic contests. Each was a game ; the object of 
which was victory, without any ukerior end, but only for the 
display of strength and skill, bodily or intellectual. And the 
zealous cultivation of rhetoric, to which the majority of eminent 
men made all other studies subordinate, and whose most appro- 
priate object is not the discovery of truth, but the invention of 
arguments,^ could not but foster the prevailing disregard of truth. 

It seems, too, to have been the settled conviction of most of 
those who had the sincerest desire of attaining truth themselves, 
that to the mass of mankind truth was in many points inex- 
pedient, and unfit to be communicated; that however de- 
sirable it might be for the leading personages in the world 
to be instructed in the true nature of things, there were many 
popular delusions which were essential to the well-being of 
society.^ And in the foremost rank of these they placed their 
popular religions. Their own notions respecting the Deity 
were totally unconnected with morality; and they despaired 
of imbuing the vulgar with the philosophical principles on 
which they made virtue to rest. They made it a point of 
duty, therefore, to testify by their example the utmost respect 

1 2x0^^- ^ Elements of Logic. B. lY. ch. 3, § ii. 

3 See a Discourse on the Doctrine of Reserve, by Eev. J. West. 



ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



21 



for the established religion ; and to impress on the multitude 
that reverence for the gods, and dread of divine judgment 
on crimes, which they themselves, in their own more private 
writings, derided. 

They did not, however, seek to effect this object — and this 
is a circumstance deserving of especial attention — by under- 
taking to prove the truth of the popular religions. He who 
labors to prove, implies the possibility of doubt, and chal- 
lenges inquiry ; and they well knew that there was no evi- 
dence for the existing superstitions which could satisfy doubts, 
or stand the test of inquiry.^ The only thing to be done, 
therefore, was to forbid all doubts as impious, — to suppress 
all inquiry ; and, consequently, to forego even the practice 
of asserting the truth of the established systems, which had, 
as Paul expresses it, " changed the truth of God into a lie." ^ 
They were maintained as politically expedient by the civil 

1 A late writer, who professes a great regard for Christianity, would have all 
young persons kept in ignorance that any one ever doubted Christianity ! and 
thinks that, if we neglect this sage advice, we shall run a serious risk of making 
our children infidels, by laying before them the evidences of their religion. He 
forgets that a child cannot read the New Testament without learning that " some 
believed the words that were spoken, and some believed not ; and that no one 
can, in these days, be so completely debarred from all knowledge of history as 
not to hear of the French at the Revolution abjuring Christianity, and of mul- 
titudes of their priests professing unbelief. 

And — as to saying that inquiry must lead to unbelief — it is strange that 
such writers should not perceive that an admission of this kind, coming from a 
professed friend to Christianity, tends more to shake men's faith in it than all 
the attacks of all the avowed infidels in the world put together. For, what 
would such a writer say of some professed friend coming forward as his advo- 
cate, and saying, "My friend, here is a veracious and worthy man, and there is 
no foundation for any of the charges brought against him ; and his integrity 
is fully believed in by persons who thoroughly trust him, and who have never 
thought of reasoning or inquiring about his character at all. But of all things, 
do not make any investigation into his character; for the more you inquire and 
examine, the less likely most people will be to believe in his integrity I " — Cau- 
tions for the Times, No. 29, p. 471, 472. 

2 Rom. i. 25. 



22 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



magistrates, whose appropriate instrument is not argument, 
but coercion ; and who for the most part utterly disbelieved 
them, and were sensible that they could not be established 
by evidence, yet were convinced that they ought to be 
established by law. And as it is the nature of legal enact- 
ments to produce, not belief, but merely outward conformity 
and submission, it was the inevitable result of this state of 
things that the ideas of religion and of truth — of pious 
demeanor and of sincere belief — should come to be com- 
pletely disjoined in men's minds ; and that they should even 
be somewhat startled at the very pretension to truth as resting 
on evidence, in any religion, and at the requisition of faith in 
it, on the ground of its truth. It was what they had never 
been used to. Philosophers of the most discordant tenets, 
poets of all descriptions, politicians and other men of business, 
amidst all the variety of their views and conduct, had always 
concurred in maintaining the popular religions, and in main- 
taining them on any other ground than that of truth. " The 
worship of the gods is an institution of our country : These 
rights are venerable from their antiquity : ^ The neglect of 
them would argue disrespect for our ancestors, and contempt 
for the laws : A respect for religion is useful for maintaining 
due subordination among the people," — these, and such as 
these, were their arguments ; and the conclusion accordingly 
drawn was, that every man ought to worship the gods according 
to the established institutions. Truth, and belief in the truth, 
seem, in tliis matter, to have scarcely entered their minds.^ 

1 Such was the remark of Tacitus respecting the religion of the Jews: "Hi 
ritus, quoquo modo inducti, vetustate defenduntur; " a description much more 
suitable to the pagan religions, both in respect of the fact and of the opinions 
of the respective votaries. It was the boast of the Jews that they had " the 
form of knowledge and of the truth, in the law." Kom. ii. 20. 

2 1 have treated more fully of this point in the Essays (Fourth Series) on the 
Dangers, etc., especially in the Appendix, Note F., and also in Essay I., on 
the Kingdom of Christ. 



ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



23 



Pilate accordingly seems to have been perplexed by our 
Lord's reply, stating that He had come into the world for the 
purpose of bearing " witness to the truth." His inquiry, What 
is truth ? does not seem (as an eminent writer imagines) to 
have been made in jest.^ The Roman Governor was evidently 
in no jesting mood, nor at all disposed to treat Jesus with con- 
tempt ; but (for whatever reason) was very seriously intent on 
investigating his case, and procuring his acquittal. Whether 
there be sufficient ground or not for the conjecture of some 
that he was in expectation of Jesus assuming the temporal sov- 
ereignty by the employment of those miraculous powers of 
which no one could have been ignorant, and was disposed, from 
views of personal aggrandizement, to favor his pretensions,^ at 
any rate it is plain he was endeavoring to learn what his de- 
signs and pretensions were, and hence eagerly asked, catching, 
as it were, at his words, "Art thou a king, then ? " The answer 
in which Jesus claims to be a minister of the truth, seems to 
have disappointed and perplexed him. " What is truth ? " he 
replied ; as much as to say, " What has truth to do with the 
present business ? I wish for information as to your claims 
and objects, — what sovereignty it is that you pretend to, or 
aim at. And you tell me about truth ; what is that to the 
purpose ? " 

On this, and on other occasions, our Lord points out truth 
as, in an especial manner, the characteristic of his religion : 
" If ye continue in my words, then are ye my disciples in- 
deed ; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make 
you free." — "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." — 
" They that worship God must worship him in spirit and in 
truth." — "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall 
guide you into all truth." — " And for their sakes I sanctify 

1 See Annotation on Bacon's first Essay. 

2 See Discourse on the Treason of Judas Iscariot. 



24 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." 
His great adversary, on the other hand, is designated by Him 
as a "liar, and the father of lies." And the apostles of 
Christ, in like manner, perpetually make use of the words 
" Truth," and " Faith," to designate the Christian religion ; for 
example, " God will have all men to be saved, and to come 
to the knowledge of the truth " — 1 Tim. ii. 4. " Having 
your loins girt about with truth " — Ephes. vi. 14. "They re- 
ceived not the love of truthj that they might be saved " — 
2 Thess. ii. 10. " Chosen to salvation, through belief of the 
truth " — 2 Thess. ii. 13. "After we have received the knowl- 
edge of the truth" — Heb. x. 26. "Ye have purified your 
souls in obeying the truth " — 1 Pet. i. 22. " The way of truth 
shall be evil-spoken of" — 2 Pet. ii. 2. " Hereby we know 
that we are of the truth " — 1 John iii. 19, etc. ; — by all which 
more, I conceive, was implied than that the religion is true, and 
is the only true one, and that faith in it is required. In the 
present day this would be implied by the very circumstance of 
preaching any religion ; but in those days the very pretension 
to truth, the very demand of faith, were characteristic distinc- 
tions of the gospel. The heathen mythology not only was not 
true, but was not even supported as true ; it not only deserved 
no faith, but it demanded none. It was needful, therefore, to 
inform and remind men not merely of the strength of the gos- 
pel claims, but of the nature of those claims ; to point out 
not only the force of the evidence in its favor, but its appeal to 
evidence. And when our Lord adds, " Every one that is of the 
truth heareth my voice," he is evidently describing the subjects 
of his kingdom. As it was a " kingdom not of this world," 
so its subjects were to be not necessarily Jews, or inhabitants 
of any particular country, but such as were " of the truth ; " 
that is, persons sincerely willing and earnestly desirous to seek 
and to embrace whatever should be shown to be a true religion. 



ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



25 



And this is plain from his saying, " Not every one that heareth 
my voice is of the truth," — but the converse. His disciples 
hecame such, in consequence of their being, in the sense just 
described, " of the truth." 

Many, indeed, of our Lord's expressions concerning the 
truth of his religion, have a reference rather to the types and 
shadows of the Mosaic dispensation, than to the fables of the 
heathen mythology. As contrasted with these last, Christianity 
was truth as opposed to falsehood ; as contrasted with the Jew- 
ish system, it was the truths in the sense of "reality," as dis- 
tinguished from the emUems, symbols, representations of 
that reality, — from the " shadow of good things to come," 
contained in the Levitical Law.-^ In this sense it is that the 
apostles tell us " The law was given by Moses, but grace and 
truth came by Jesus Christ." And this also was probably the 
chief import of our Lord's expression, " The truth shall make 
you free ; " that is, free from the precise and minute directions, 
and burdensome ceremonial, of the Mosaic Law, which was in- 
stituted for the very purpose of shadowing forth, and preparing 
the way for, the glorious truths^ or realities, of the gospel. 

This consideration, however, does not lessen the force of 
what has been said respecting the prominent place assigned to 
the " truth " of Christianity as characteristic of the religion. 
Its truth, in the sense of reality contrasted with type, and 
substance with shadow, implies its truth as opposed to false- 
hood also. It was the same quality that distinguished it from 
the more imperfect revelations of the " Law " on one side, and 
from the fictions and misconceptions of the Pagans on the 
other : " The truth as it is in Jesus " ^ was to supersede both 
the heathen idolatry, by destroying it, and " the law and the 
prophets," — -not by destroying, indeed, but by fulfilHng them. 

1 See Hinds's Catechists' Manual (p. 264), a book which, in my judgment, no 
young clergyman or master of a family should be without. 

2 Ep. to Eph. iv. 21. 

3 



26 



WHATELrS ESSAYS. 



And it should be carefully borne in mind, that though the 
reiterated allusions to " truth " were in a great degree called 
forth by the strong contrast which the new religion presented, 
in this particular, to those at that time opposed to it, the char- 
acteristic itself must equally belong to the same religion at all 
times. The gospel itself is always and everywhere the same ; 
though particular times and places may require that this or 
that particular feature of it should be especially 'pointed out 
and dwelt on. Even so creeds, or sets of articles, employed 
as a symbol or test of orthodoxy, may vary, and have varied, 
according to the emergencies occasioned by the prevalence of 
particular errors ; though the absolute and intrinsic soundness 
of the articles of faith themselves must be always the same. 
Temporary or local circumstances are the cause, not of any 
article's heing or not being a part of the Christian faith, but of 
its being a part which it is needful to set forth prominently, 
and insist on.^ 



§ II. But how, it may be said, do these considerations 
Liability of Chris- aflfect US Christians of the present day? We, it 

tians to act incon- -t i i 

sistentiy with this IS to be hoped, are not chargeable with that cul- 
norstfadiTy fo^^ pablc carelcssncss about truth, especially in reli- 
ing truth. gious matters, which characterized the ancients. 

We do believe in Jesus as the " way, and the truth, and the life.'' 
Let it be remembered, however, that as the ancient heathen 
are not the standard by which we are to be measured, so it is 
not our superiority to them that will at once acquit us. They 
had many excuses, of which we have none, for their disregard 
of truth : in particular, they knew not, as we do, of any reli- 
gion that did challenge inquiry, and appeal to evidence, and 
demand well-grounded and firm belief; that taught them to 
"prove all things, and hold fast that which is right," and to be 

1 See Note A, at the end of this Essay 



ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



27 



" ready to give a reason of their hope.'* Do Christians, then, 
in this respect show themselves worthy of their peculiar advan- 
tages ? Do they speak and act altogether consistently with a 
religion which is built on faith in the truth'^ The professors of 
such a religion ought not merely to believe it in sincerity, but 
to adhere scrupulously to truth in the means employed on 
every occasion, as well as in the ends proposed ; and to follow 
fearlessly wherever truth may lead. 

Now we should recollect that most of the pretended mira- 
cles, the pious frauds" as they are called, perpetrated by 
many, are, or at least were, in the first instance, the work of 
men who were sincere believers in the truth of their religion. 
It is, indeed, on this ground alone that a 'pious fraud can be so 
called. But they were men who knew " not what manner of 
spirit they were of." They sought to promote, by means of 
falsehood, the cause of Him who lived and died for the truth. 
They believed the gospel to have come from God, but wanted 
faith in his power and care to support and prosper it; and 
turned aside from the straight path of sincerity, to seek for the 
(supposed) expedient, by the crooked roads of worldly policy. 
But still, though most unchristian in their spirit, — though 
they had "neither part nor lot in this matter, but were in 
the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity, " — their 
general belief in Christianity was, doubtless, in most instances, 
sincere ; and I have adverted to their case for the very purpose 
of pointing out the important circumstance, that the fullest con- 
viction of the truth of the cause in which ive may be engaged^ 
is no security against our sliding into falsehood, unless we 
are sedulous in forming and cherishing a habit of loving and 
reverencing, and strictly adhering to truth.^ 

Protestants, however, in these times, it may be said, have no 
pretended miracles — practise no pious frauds. But how far is 

1 See Essay (Third Series) on Tious Frauds. 



28 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



this (supposed the fact to be strictly so) to be attributed to a 
genuine detestation of falsehood, as odious in His sight who 
lived and died in the cause of truth, and to a firm reliance on 
His providence ; and how far, to a conviction furnished by ex- 
perience, that fraud is, in the end, detrimental to the cause it is 
designed to serve, and that in these days its success would be 
especially short-lived ? To what degree each man is in each 
instance actuated by a love of truth, or by considerations of 
seeming expediency, can be fully known only to the Searcher 
of hearts. It is only by the most rigid self-examination that we 
can approach to the knowledge of this in our own case ; and it 
is so far only as the former motive operates that we are acting 
on Christian principle. 

It is undoubtedly a just maxim that in the long run " honesty 
is the best policy ; " but he whose practice is governed hy that 
maxim is not an honest man. And it may be added, that a 
steady and uniform adherence to honesty, never will result 
from that maxim. He who adheres to what is right, because 
it is right, will be rewarded by afterwards perceiving that he 
has taken the wisest course. But to those who seek, in the first 
instance, for the best policy, it is not given to perceive, in all 
cases, that honesty is the best policy. The maxim, therefore, 
though true and valuable, is never, to any one, the habitual 
and constant guide of conduct. He who is honest is always 
before it ; and he who is not, will often be far behind it. 

§ III. To suggest a few topics for the self-examination I have 
alluded to, may not be unsuitable with a view to 

Necessity of self- . 

examination as to the inquirics wc arc engaged in. That all, even 

this point. r» i t -i -• • i • t 

01 the learned and sagacious, have not arrived at 
true conclusions respecting the doctrines of Scripture, is at 
once evident from the great diversity of their conclusions. It 
is necessary to consider, therefore, how we may best escape 



ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



29 



being of the number of those who fall into such various errors, 
— how we maj be best quahfied for profiting by the lessons 
of Him whose " word is truth." And this must surely be by a 
fervent desire and sedulous watchfulness to acquire and pre- 
serve a sincere, unbiassed, and candid disposition. Without 
this, the highest ability, combined with the most laborious 
study, will do nothing towards the attainment of that object. 

That we may not, however, be led into too wide a field of 
discussion, it should be observed, that I do not propose to in- 
culcate the duty of veracity in private life, or to enter on any 
metaphysical disquisition on the nature of truth universally, or 
on what may be regarded as the different species of it, or to 
treat of the various kinds of evidence by which it is to be es- 
tablished; but simply to speak of the importance, and the 
difficulty, of cultivating and establishuig as a habit, a sincere 
love of truth for its own sake, and a steady, thoroughgoing 
adherence to it in all philosophical, and especially in religious 
inquiries. 

The first step towards attaining this state of mind, and as- 
certaining how far we have attained it, must evidently be a 
strong conviction of its value, together with a distrust of our- 
selves. If we either care not to be lovers of truth, or take for 
granted that we are such, without taking any pains to acquire 
the habit, it is not likely that we ever shall acquire it. I must 
here, therefore, briefly notice some objections which I have 
heard urged against the very effort to cultivate such a habit as I 
am recommending ; though, in fact, they arise from misappre- 
hension, and are directed against a mistaken view of the subject. 

1. The first is, that we cannot be required to make 
truth our main object, but happiness ; — that objection to the 
our ultimate end is, not the mere knowledge ^^iTy puLui^g^^^^^ 
of what is true, but the attainment of what is p^^P^g^^ing truth. 
good, to ourselves and to others. But this, when urged as 
3* 



30 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



an objection against the views here taken, is evidently founded 
on a mistake as to the meaning of the maxim, that truth 
should be sought for its own sake. It is evident, in the first 
place, that I am not speaking of the pursuit of all truth on all 
subjects. It would be ridiculous for a single individual to 
aim at universal knowledge ; or even at the knowledge of all 
that is within the reach of the human faculties, and worthy of 
human study. The question is respecting the pursuit of truth, 
in each subject, on which each person desires to make up his 
mind and form an opinion. And secondly, the purport of the 
maxim that, in these points, truth should be our object, is, not 
that mere barren knowledge without practice, — truth without 
any ulterior end, should be sought ; but that truth should be 
sought and followed confidently, not, in each instance, only so 
far as we perceive it to be expedient, and from motives of pol- 
icy, but with a full conviction both that it is, in the end, always 
expedient, with a view to the attainment of ulterior objects 
(no permanent advantage being attainable by departing from it), 
and also, that, even if some end, otherwise advantageous, coidd 
be promoted by such a departure, that alone would constitute 
it an evil ; that truth, in short, is in itself, independently of its 
results, preferable to error ; that honesty claims a preference 
to deceit, even without taking into account its being the best 
policy. 

2. Another objection, if it can be so called, is, that a per- 
fectly candid and unbiassed state of mind — a habit of judging 
in each case entirely according to the evidence — is unattainable. 
But the same may be said of every other virtue. A perfect 
regulation of any one of the human passions is probably not 
more attainable than perfect candor ; but we are not, therefore, 
to give a loose to the passions ; we are to relax our efforts for 
the attainment of any virtue, on the ground that, after all, we 
shall fall short of perfection. 



ox THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



31 



3. Another objection which I have heard is, that it is not 
even desirable, were it possible, to bring the mind into a state 
of perfectly unbiassed indifference, so as to weigh the evidence 
in each case with complete impartiality. The evidence, for 
instance, for the truth of the Christian rehgion, it is said, a good 
man must wish, and ought to wish, to find satisfactory ; one 
who loves and practises virtue, cannot be, and ought not to be, 
indifferent as to the question whether there be or be not a God 
who will reward it. 

This objection arises, I conceive, from an indistinct and 
confused notion of the sense of the terms employed.^ A can- 
did and unbiassed state of mind, w^hich is sometimes called in- 
difference or impartiality, that is of th^ judgment, does not imply 
an indifference of the will, — an absence of all wish on either 
side ; but merely an absence of all influence of the wishes in 
forming our decision, — all leaning of the judgment on the side 
of inclination, — all perversion of the evidence in consequence. 
That we should wish to find truth on one side rather than the 
other, is in many cases not only unavoidable, but commendable ; 
but to think that true which we wish, without impartially 
weighing the evidence on both sides, is undeniably a folly, 
though a very common one. If a mode of effectual and speedy 
cure be proposed to a sick man, he cannot but wish that the 
result of his inquiries concerning it may be a well-grounded 
conviction of the safety and efficacy of the remedy prescribed : 
it would be no mark of wisdom to be indifferent to the restora- 
tion of health ; but if his wishes should lead him (as is 
frequently the case) to put implicit confidence in the remedy 
without any just grounds for it, he would deservedly be taxed 
with folly. Or, again, if a scheme be proposed to any one for 
embarking his capital in some speculation by which he is to 
gain immense wealth, he will doubtless wish to find that the 

1 See Logic, Appendix. Article Indifference. 



32 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 

expectations held out are well-founded ; but we should call him 
very imprudent, if, as many do, he should suffer this wish to 
bias his judgment, and should believe, on insufficient grounds, 
the fair promises held out to him. His wishes, we should say, 
were both natural and wise ; but since they could not render 
the event more probable, it was most unwise to allow them to 
influence his decision. In like manner, to take the instance 
above alluded to, a good man will indeed wish to find the evi- 
dence of the Christian religion satisfactory ; but a wise man will 
not for that reason thinh it satisfactory, but will weigh the 
evidence the more carefully on account of the importance of 
the question. 

By confounding together these two very distinct things, 
indifference of the will and indifference of the judgment (or, 
which amounts to the same, taking for granted that the two are 
inseparably conjoined, and must be present or absent, together), 
I have known a person maintain, with some plausibility, the 
inexpediency, with a view to the attainment of truth, of 
educating people, or appointing teachers to instruct them in any 
particular systems or theories, — of astronomy, medicine, re- 
ligion, morals, politics, etc., — on the ground that a man must 
wish to believe, and to find good reasons for believing, the sys- 
tem in which he has been trained, and which he has been 
engaged in teaching; and that this wish must prejudice his 
understanding in favor of it, and consequently render him an 
incompetent judge of truth. 

It would follow from this principle, that no physician should 
be trusted who is not utterly indifferent whether his patient 
recovers or dies ; since, else, he must wish to find reasons for 
hoping favorably from the mode of treatment pursued : no plan 
for the benefit of the public, proposed by a philanthropist^ 
should be listened to ; since such a man cannot but wish it may 
be successful, etc. 



ox THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



33 



No doubt the judgment is often biassed by the inclinations; 
but it is possible, and it should be our endeavor, to guard 
against this bias. And, by the way, it is utterly a mistake to 
suppose that the bias is always in favor of the conclusion 
wished for. It is often in the contrary direction. There is in 
some minds a tendency to unreasonable doubt in cases where 
their wishes are strong ; a morbid distrust of evidence which 
they are especially anxious to find conclusive. For example, 
groundless fears for the health or safety of an ardently-beloved 
child, will frequently, on account of their earnest wish for his 
welfare, distress anxious parents. Different temperaments, 
sometimes varying with the state of health of each individual, 
lead towards these opposite miscalculations. Each of us prob- 
ably has a natural leaning towards one or the other (often 
towards both at different times) of these infirmities, — the 
over-estimate, or under-estimate of the reasons in favor of a 
conclusion we earnestly desire to find true. Our aim should 
be, not to fly from one extreme to the other, but to avoid both, 
and to give a verdict according to the evidence ; preserving 
the indifference of the judgment, even when the will cannot j 
and indeed should not, be indifferent. 

There are persons, again (though some of my readers will, 
perhaps, be disposed to doubt the fact), who, in supposed 
compliance with the precept, "lean not to thine own under- 
standing," regard it as a duty to suppress all exercise of the 
intellectual powers, in every case where the feelings are at 
variance with the conclusions of reason. They deem it right 
to " consult the heart more than the head ; " that is, to surrender 
themselves, advisedly, to the bias of any prejudice that may 
chance to be present: thus deliberately, and on principle, 
burying in the earth the talent intrusted to them, and hiding 
under a bushel the candle that God has lighted up in the mind. 
But it is not necessary to dwell on such a case ; both because it 



34 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



is not, I trust, a common one, and also because those who are 
thus disposed are clearly beyond the reach of argument, since 
they think it wrong to listen to it. 

I am far from recommending presumptuous inquiries into 
things beyond the reach of our faculties — " attempts to be wise 
above what is written " — or groundless confidence in the 
certainty of our conclusions ; but we cannot even exercise the 
requisite humility in acquiescing in revealed doctrines, unless 
we employ our reason to ascertain what they are ; and there is 
surely at least as much presumption in measuring everything 
by our own feelings, fancies, and prejudices, as by our own 
reasonings. 

4. Lastly, another objection sometimes brought, not so 
much against the pursuit, as against the propagation of truth, 
is, that the minds of many men are incapable of rightly appre- 
hending it; that the attempt to teach some truths to such 
hearers as are not qualified for receiving them, and to remove 
some errors which tliey are not ripe for perceiving to be such, 
w^ould only excite their disgust towards everything they might 
hear from such instructors ; or that some might assent to what 
they heard, while they put the most mischievously false inter- 
pretation upon it; or, lastly, that they might misapply even 
what they had rightly understood, — as persons ignorant of 
medicine often do mischief by administering, without judgment, 
some powerful remedy, whose efficacy they have witnessed. 
Even thus, it may be said, will the unlearned, when they have 
been taught to reject some long-established error, proceed, 
when their minds are once unsettled, to reject well-grounded 
doctrines also ; and will apply the arguments by which they 
have been convinced in one case, to another, perhaps very 
different (though they are incapable of understanding that 
difference), so as to produce the most erroneous results.^ 

1 See Dr VTest's Discourse on Reserve, above referred to. See also the Index 
to the Tracts for the Times. 



ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



35 



Accordingly, it is urged, our Lord himself and liis apostles 
abstained from teaching everything at once to their hearers, 
because they " were not as yet able to bear them ; and even 
so imjDortant a doctrine as the extension of the gospel to 
the Gentile world, was not fully made known to the apostles 
themselves for several years after they had received their 
commission. 

All this is, in a certain sense, true ; and as far as it is true is 
no contradiction of the principle I have laid down, but an appli- 
cation of it. For to teach anything which, though in itself true, 
will inevitably be misunderstood by the hearers, is, in reality, 
to propagate not truth but error ; and if our teaching has in 
any case a necessary tendency to lead a certain class of hearers 
into such mistakes on other points as we have no power to 
guard against, w^e are not enlightening, but leading them into 
darkness. If we were to suppose a case (to resort to an illus- 
tration I have elsewhere employed^) of our informing a rustic 
that the sun stands still, while, for some reason or other, we 
had no means of teaching him that the earth turns round, he 
would evidently be more perplexed than instructed, and would 
be more than ever at a loss to understand the alternations of 
day and night. 

To show that what has here been said is not a statement 
framed for the occasion, in order to meet objections, I will take 
the liberty of citing a passage to the same purpose from my 
Bampton Lectures, published in 1822 : " Persons of inferior 
powers and attainments may be led, not to knowledge, but to 
error, by hastily proposing to them such statements and ex- 
planations as surpass their capacity ; though they may be 
intelligible and instructive to the abler and more advanced. 
No vain clamors, therefore, about deceiving the people, — no 
groundless charges of keeping the vulgar in ignorance, and 

1 See Appendix to Archbishop King's Discourse on Predestination, No. 1. 



36 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



preaching a different gospel to different persons, should deter 
us from following at once the dictates of sound sense, and the 
example of St. Paul ; or induce us so to perplex and confuse 
' those who are weak in the faith,' as really to incur the blame of 
deceiving them, for the sake of avoiding the appearance of it. 
For, it should be remembered that, practically speaking, all 
truth is relative : that which may be to one man a true state- 
ment of any doctrine, may be, in effect, false to another, if it 
be such as cannot but lead him to form false notions ; and that 
which gives him, if not a perfectly correct notion of things as 
they are, yet the nearest to this that he is capable of, may be 
regarded as, to him, true." ^ 

If, then, on these principles, we withhold for a time some 
part of the truth from those who are not able to bear it ; if 
we add " line upon line, and precept upon precept — here a lit- 
tle, and there a little," striving gradually to qualify the 
learner for a more full communication ; if we labor patiently 
to wear away prejudices by little and little, when the attempt 
to eradicate them abruptly would be unsuccessful or perni- 
cious, we are pursuing that method of inculcating truth which 
is sanctioned by Christ and his apostles. But if we make the 
ignorance, weakness, or prejudice of men a plea for suppress- 
ing or disguising truth, or for conniving at error, without 
laboring at the same time to remove those obstacles ; if we 
plead that they are not yet ripe for this or that doctrine, and 
expect them to become ripe, like the fruits of the earth, by mere 
waiting ; if we are content to leave them permanently under 
the influence of delusion, — to postpone, sirie die^ as the phrase 
is, the communication of religious truths, — to wait indejffinitely 
for some unforseen favorable conjuncture which we make no 
exertions to bring about, — we are proceeding in direct contra- 
diction to the spirit of the gospel, and the example of its Author. 

1 Lect. IV. pp. 129, 130, Third Edit. 



ON THE LOYE OF TRUTH. 



37 



" I have yet many things/' said He, " to say unto you, but ye 
cannot bear them 7iow, " But He did, by his Spirit, gradually 
impart this knowledge to them afterwards ; not to some subse- 
quent generation, but to those very same individuals. " I have 
fed you with milk, and not with meat," says St. Paul ; " for ye 
were not able to bear it, neither yet are ye able." He evidently 
implies a hope that they (that is, not some future generation, but 
those very individuals) will he able to bear it; nay, he is evi- 
dently reproaching them for not being already better qualified 
for the reception of divine truth. Indeed, the very similitude 
of hahes of itself draws our attention, our hopes, and our en- 
deavors towards a progressive growth into manhood. 

§ lY. When, however, we have made up our minds as to the 
importance of seeking in every case for truth. Danger of men's 
with an unprejudiced mind, the greatest dilFiculty feTver^tthout'suf- 

^•11 • 1 • 1. • r n 1 ficient grounds that 

Still remams ; which arises from the confidence ^j^^^ ^^^^^^ 
we are apt to feel that we have already done ' maxim of 

J making it not the 

this, and have sought for truth with success, second but the first 

^ ^ question, What is 

For, every one must of course be convinced of ^""""^^ • 
the truth of his own opinion, if it be properly called his opin- 
ion ; and yet the variety of men's opinions furnishes a proof 
how many must be mistaken. If any one, then, would guard 
against mistake as far as his intellectual faculties will allow, he 
must make it, 7iot the second, hut the first question in each case, 
" Is this true ? " It is not enough to believe what you main- 
tain : you must maintain wdiat you believe ; and maintain it 
because you believe it ; and that, on the most careful and 
impartial review of the evidence on both sides. For any one 
may bring himself to believe almost anything that he is 
inclined to believe, and thinks it becoming or expedient to 
maintain. It makes all the difference, therefore, whether w^e 
begin or end with the inquiry as to the truth of our doctrines, 

4 



38 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



To express the same maxim in other words, it is one thing to 
wish to have truth on our side^ and another thing to wish sin- 
cerely to be on the side of truth} There is no genuine love of 
truth implied in the former. Truth is a powerful auxiliary, 
such as every one wishes to have on his side, every one is 
rejoiced to find, and therefore often succeeds in convincing 
himself that the principles he is already disposed to adopt, 
the notions he is inclined to defend, may be maintained as true. 
A determination to " obey the truth," and to follow wherever 
she may lead, is not so common. In this consists the genuine 
love of truth ; and this can be realized in practice only by 
postponing all other questions to that which ought ever to come 
foremost : " What is the truth ? " The minds of most men are 
preoccupied by some feeling or other which influences their 
judgment, — either on the side of truth or of error, as it may 
happen, — and enlists their learning and ability on the side, 
whatever it may be, which they are predisposed to adopt. 
1. One of the most common of these feelings is an aversion 
Obstacles to the to douU — ^ dislikc of having the judgment 
habit'!''* DisuL*^^^^ ^^Pt 1^ suspense ; which, combined with indolence 
in investigation, induces the great mass of man- 
kind to make up their minds on a variety of points, almost 
according to the first suggestion that is offered. As the illus- 
trious Greek historian expresses it, in language which will 
hardly admit of an adequate translation, "the generality of 
mankind are so averse to the labor of investigating truth, that 
they are willing rather to adopt any statement that is ready- 
prepared for their acceptance."^ But he who would cultivate 

1 Some persons, accordingly, who describe themselves — in one sense correctly 
— as ^''following the dictates of conscience," are doing so only in the same sense 
in which a person who is driving in a carriage may be said to folloio his horses, 
which go in whatever direction he guides them. 

2 ^AraXaLTTwpos to7s AoAAoTs tj (;t]Tri(jLS ttis aXi'i^eiaSi Koi M ra 'hoifxa 
fJLaXKoy rpiiropTai.-^ Thucyd. 



ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



39 



an habitual devotion to truth, must be solicitous in the first 
place to avoid error ; and consequently must in all cases prefer 
douht to the reception of falsehood, or to the admission of any 
conclusion on insufficient evidence. One who has an aversion 
to doubt, and is anxious to make up his mind, and to come to 
some conclusion on every question that is discussed, must be 
content to rest many of his opinions on very slight grounds ; 
since no one individual is competent to investigate fully all dis- 
putable points. Such an one, therefore, is no lover of truth ; 
nor is in the right way to attain it on any point. He may 
more reasonably hope this, who, though he may on many 
points perceive some, and perhaps a great, preponderance of 
probability on this or that side, is contented to come to a de- 
cisive conclusion only on those few which he has been enabled 
thoroughly to investigate.^ 

The fault I have been speaking of is one which men are the 
less likely to detect in themselves, from this circumstance, 
that in many practical cases it is necessary to come to some 
decision, speedily, even though we may not have before us the 
fullest evidence that we could desire, or even that we might 
hope, were more time allowed us, to obtain. The physician 
may be compelled to prescribe, or the general to give his 
orders, immediately, and without waiting to examine all the 
reasons on both sides ; because delay would be as pernicious 
as mistake. In cases of this kind, the utmost we can do is to 
make up our minds according to the best reasons that occur ; 
and though we are not called on, even then, to come to any 
certain conclusion in our minds, if there are no sufficient 
grounds for it, yet we must act as if we were certain. If, in a 
journey, we have no means of knowing certainly which of two 
or three roads will lead us aright, we must yet choose one, 
because we are certain we cannot reach the journey's end by 

1 Essay IV. (Third Series), § VIH. 



40 



miATELY^S ESSAYS. 



standing still. So, also, if we are in doubt whether thieves 
will come or not, we bar the door, as if we were certain they 
would ; because to neglect this would be to stake all on the 
event of their not coming. In like manner, he who has doubts 
about the truth of Christianity is bound in prudence to en- 
deavor to act as if it were true. For in these, and many other 
cases of practice, " not to decide, is to decide." ^ And the 
habit is often in this manner acquired of forming our opinions 
as hastily as our practical decisions ; and that, too, even in cases 
where no immediate step is necessarily to be taken, — no dan- 
ger, equal to the danger of error, to be incurred by remaining 
in suspense.^ 

2. To that dislike of doubt which has been mentioned as an 
Love of original- obstaclc to the cultivatiou of an habitual love of 

truth, many others may be added which aug- 
ment the difficulty. In many it is the desire of originalityj 
heightened sometimes into the love of paradox that pre-occu- 
pies the mind. They are zealous for truth, provided it be 
some truth brought to light by themselves. There are some, 
accordingly, who have been right where prevailing opinions 
are erroneous, and erroneous where the rest of the world think 
rightly. And such persons often satisfy themselves that they 
are guarded against this excess, by the severity of their judg- 
ments on their neighbor's originality, — by unsparing rejection 
of every paradox, and every novelty, proceeding from another. 
A crude theory or opinion, means, in their language, one which 
(being new) has not first occurred to themselves. 

3. Others, again, and they are more numerous, are unduly 
Excessive defer- biasscd by au excessive respect for venerated 

ence for authority. authoHty, — by au uuduc regard for any belief 
that is ancient, that is established, that is reckoned ortho- 
dox, that has been maintained by eminent men : they are 

1 Bacon. 2 Essay on the Omission of Creeds, etc., in Scripture, § IX. 



ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



41 



overpowered, in short, by the argumentum ad verecundiam." 
I mean not, of course, that the judgment of able men, and that 
of numerous independent authorities, furnishes no vahd argu- 
ment ; only, that it should not supersede argument, — that 
every other description of evidence should be called in, and 
that we should not think ourselves bound to adopt an opinion 
merely because it has been held by many before us.^ And 
some are so biassed by authority, that they not only admit 
carelessly as true what they have not examined, but even tol- 
erate a considerable admixture of what they themselves perceive 
to be untrue. "I had rather be mistaken in company with 
Plato, than hold the truth along with those men," ^ implies no 
uncommon kind of feeling. 

And, moreover, any errors which have long and extensively 
prevailed, are by many regarded as of no great practical con- 
sequence ; because, they think, if these had led to any ill result, 
it would have been long ago manifest. This is indeed far from 
being universally the case ; for many doctrinal errors do lead 
to practical evils which are not referred, even by those who 
perceive them, to the causes whence they sprung.^ Protes- 
tants, for instance, perceive the immoral effects which naturally 
spring, in Romanist countries, from the doctrines of purgatory, 
indulgences, image-worship, etc. ; but a sincere Romanist, 
though he cannot but perceive the existence of many of these 
immoralities, is usually altogether blind to their connection 
with those causes. And the Protestant who wonders at this 
blindness, is perhaps himself equally blind in some similar case. 
But though, as has been said, the alleged harmlessness of long- 
established errors is in general very rashly inferred, still it 
commonly is inferred ; and there are not a few who have more 

1 Essay lY. (Fourth Series), § YIII. 

2 " Errare malo cum Platone, quam cum istis vera sentire." 
S See Appendix to Essay II., on the Kingdom of Christ. 

4* 



42 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



dread of anything that savors of novelty, even when they per- 
ceive nothing objectionable in it, than of what is generally 
received, even when they know it to be unsound. And hence, 
he is the most likely to be, by such persons, accounted a safe 
naan, not whose views are on the whole the most reasonable, 
but who is free from all errors, except vulgar errors. 

It may be added, that the desire to be considered " or- 
thodox " is the more likely to mislead, from the coincidence 
of that term, etymologically^ with rectitude of faith. But, 
popularly, when a man is spoken of as "orthodox," this is 
understood to imply conformity to what is received and main- 
tained as the right faith, by the majority of the most influential 
theologians of the age and country in which he lives, or in which 
those live who so describe him. This may^ indeed, coincide 
perfectly with the right sense of Scripture ; but we cannot be 
sure that it will always be so, unless we regard those theologians 
as infallible. These^ then, must be made the standard — their 
mode of study and their interpretations followed — by one who 
is bent on being " orthodox,''^ He, again, whose great object is 
to be scriptural, must make the Scriptures his standard ; to be 
studied with all the best helps, indeed, that he can obtain, but 
with a thorough devotion to his object, and a resolution to 
sacrifice, if needful, anything and everything to that. 

But whichever standard a man adopts, let him not aim at the 
unattainable object of " serving two masters." Let him not say 
that the "orthodox " and the "scriptural" are not adverse j like 
" God and mammon ; " which, by the way, are 7iot necessarily 
adverse, since the same conduct which a sense of Christian 
duty suggests will often conduce to wordly prosperity also. It 
is not because they are hostile, and necessarily lead different 
ways, that no man can serve two masters ; but simply because 
they are two, and not one. The attempt is like that of seeking 
to make both gold and silver the standard of currency. Their 



ox THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



43 



relative values vaiy but seldom, and vary slightly; but the 
slightest variation throws all accounts into confusion, if we 
attempt to make both a standard. 

In proportion as pure religion prevails in any age or coun- 
try, the "orthodox" and the "scriptural" approach towards 
coincidence, and the adherents of the two, respectively, ap- 
proach in respect of the doctrines themselves which they hold. 
But still they go on different principles^ like one man going 
by the clock, and another by the sun-dial ; and he who aims 
at conforming to each of two standards, is " a double-minded 
man," and will be " unstable in all his ways." 

The temptation to fall into this snare is one which calls for 
more vigilance, in one respect, than a temptation to do any- 
thing that is in itself manifestly wrong, and which ought to 
be avoided altogether. For, agreement in faith with those 
around us, it would be as wrong to shun as to seek ; and it is so 
manifestly desirable, in point of present comfort and conven- 
ience, that no one can be censured for rejoicing to find himself 
so situated without any sacrifice of principle. Now it is difficult 
for a man to keep himself from seeking for that which he can- 
not help wishing for ; aiming at that which he feels he would 
rejoice at. And as soon as he does this — as soon as his efforts 
are directed the same way as his wishes — he has immediately 
begun to set up a new standard, and is trying to serve two 
masters. 

The two faults which have been just noticed — the endeavor 
after originality and after orthodoxy ; that is, a certain de- 
gree of each — are not unfrequently combined. The hasty 
adoption of striking novelties on some occasions, is not incom- 
patible with a blind adherence to the received doctrine on 
others. All men have been told that wisdom consists in pre- 
serving a middle course between opposite extremes ; and the 
weak, the uncandid, and the unthinking often congratulate 



44 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



themselves on having attained this happy medium, hj the 
mimic wisdom of sliding alternately into each extreme. True 
wisdom would tell us not to receive one opinion because it is 
old, and another because it is new ; but to receive and reject 
none on either ground, and to inquire sedulously, in each case, 
what is true. 

It may be added that some men are apt to aim at preserving 
the proper medium by keeping themselves at an equal distance 
from each extreme. " Men are apt to look to those who, on 
each side, hold the most extreme opinions, or practically carry 
some principle to the greatest excess, and then, resolving to be 
led by neither, think to preserve the most perfect moderation ; 
to attain the true 'via media^ by keeping themselves equi- 
distant from both. If in each point they are as far removed 
from the extremes of one party as of another, they conclude 
that they are steering the right course between them. 

"But such persons, instead of being led by neither party, 
are more properly described as being led by both. The real 
medium of rectitude is not to be attained by geometrical mea- 
surement. The varieties of human error have no power to fix 
the exact place of truth. On the contrary, it happens in re- 
spect of religion, as well as in all other subjects, that each 
party will maintain some things that are perfectly true and 
right, and others that are wholly wrong and mischievous ; and 
that in other points, again, the one party or the other will be 
much the more remote from the truth : so that any one who 
studies to keep himself in every point just half way between 
two contending parties, will probably be as often in the wrong 
as either of them. 

" And this caution is the more important, because it will 
often happen that the truth, and the error, of any party, will 
be found intimately blended together in respect of each single 
point of doctrine ; so that the one party, and their opponents 



ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



45 



also, will be, each, quite riglit in one respect, and utterly wrong 
in another." ^ 

It is a truism, but one often practically forgotten, that there 
is no medium between truth and falsehood. When, indeed, 
opposite errors are held by two parties, the truth will lie some- 
where between them ; but when — as is often the case — a true 
view of some point is taken by one of them and opposed by the 
other, to aim at the mean will be in fact seeking a mean be- 
tween truth and falsehood. There may be a medium indeed 
between that truth and the particular error maintained by some 
particular party ; but this " via media " will of course be itself 
erroneous. 

4. I have elsewhere noticed a kind of false humility, by 
aiming at which some are drawn aside from the pursuit of truth. 
" The pride of human reason " is a phrase very much in the 
mouth of some persons, who seem to think they are effectually 
humbling themselves by an excessive distrust of all exercise of 
the intellect^ while they resign themselves freely to the guid- 
ance of what they call the heart ; that is, their prejudices, 
passions, inclinations, and fancies. But the feelings are as 
much a part of man's constitution as his reason : every part of 
our nature will equally lead us wrong, if operating uncon- 
trolled. If a man employs his reason, not in ascertaining what 
God has revealed in Scripture, but in conjecturing what might 
be, or ought to be the divine dispensations, he is employing 
his reason wrongly, and will err accordingly. But this is not 
the only source of error. He who, to avoid this, gives up the 
use of his reason, and believes or disbelieves, adopts or rejects, 
according to what suits his feelings, taste, will, and fancy, is no 
less an idolater of himself than the other ; his feelings, etc., 
being a part of himself no less than his reason.^ We may, if 
we please, call the one of these a " Rationalist," and the other 

1 Charge of 1843. 2 See Logic, Appendix III. 



46 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



an " Irrationalist ; " but there is as much of the pride of self- 
idolatry in the one as in the other. The Greeks and Romans 
were indeed wretched idolaters in their adoration of the beau- 
tiful statues of Jupiter and Minerva ; but the Egyptians, who 
adored those of an ox and a hawk, were not the less idolaters. 
The Jews, relying on the decision of learned rabbis, and the 
Pythagorean, who yielded implicit reverence to the dictates of 
the sage, did not more exalt man into an oracle, in the place 
of God, than the Mussulmans, who pay a like reverence to 
idiots and madmen. Each part of our nature should be duly 
controlled, and kept within its own proper province ; and the 
whole "brought into subjection to Christ," and dedicated to 
him. But there is no real Christian humility, though there be 
debasement, in renouncing the exercise of human reason to 
follow the dictates of human feeling. The apostle's precept is, 
" In malace be ye children ; but in understanding be ye men.'' 
The error I have been adverting to is worthy of notice only 
from the plausibility it derives from the authority of some 
persons who really do possess cultivated intellectual powers ; 
and therefore, when they declaim on the pride of human rea- 
son, are understood not to be disparaging an advantage of 
which they are destitute. They appear voluntarily divesting 
themselves of what many would feel a pride in ; and thus often 
conceal from others, as well as from themselves, the spiritual 
pride with which they not only venerate their own feelings and 
prejudices, but even load with anathemas all who presume to 
dissent from them. It is a prostration, not of man's self before 
God, but of one part of himself before another. This kind of 
humiliation is like the idolatry of the Israelites in the wilder- 
ness : " The people stripped themselves of their golden ornaments 
that were upon them, and cast them into the fire ; and there 
came forth this calf."^ We ought to remember that the disci- 

1 Note to a Charge of 1836. 



ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



47 



pies were led by the dictates of a sound understanding to say, 
" No man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be 
with him," and thence, to believe and trust and obey Jesus 
implicitly ; but that Peter was led by his heart — that is, his incli- 
nations and prejudices — to say, " Be it far from thee, Lord ! 
there shall no such thing happen unto thee." 

5. It is to be remembered also that the intellectual powers 
are sometimes pressed into the service, as it were, of the feel- 
ings, and that a man may be thus misled, in a great measure, 
through his own ingenuity. Any one who possesses consider- 
able ability, is able, as is well known, to make up a plausible 
defence of some unsound theory or unjustifiable measure. 
" Depend on it," said a shrewd observer, when inquired of 
what was to be expected from a certain man who had been 
appointed to some high office, and of whose intelligence he 
thought more favorably than of his uprightness, — " depend 
on it, he will never take any step that is bad, without having a 
very good reason for it." Now it is common to warn men — 
and they are generally ready enough to take the warning — 
against being thus misled by the ingenuity of another ; but a 
person of more than ordinary learning and ability, needs to be 
carefully on his guard against being misled by his own. 
Though conscious perhaps of his own power to dress up spe- 
ciously a bad cause, or an extravagant and fanciful theory, he is 
conscious also of a corresponding power to distinguish sound 
reasoning from sophistry. But this will not avail to protect 
him from convincing himself by ingenious sophistry of his own, 
if he has allowed himself to adopt some conclusion which 
pleases his imagination, or favors some passion or self-interest. 
His own superior intelligence will then be, as I have said, 
pressed into the service of his inclinations. It is, indeed, no 
feeble blow that will suffice to destroy a giant ; but if a giant 
resolves to commit suicide, it is a giant that deals the blow. 



48 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



A man is in danger, therefore, — the more in proportion to 
his abilities, — of exercising on himself, when under the influ- 
ence of some passion, a most pernicious oratorical power, by 
pleading the cause, as it were, before himself, of that passion. 
Suppose it anger, for example, that he is feeling : he is naturally 
disposed to dwell on and amplify the aggravating circumstances 
of the supposed provocation, so as to make out a good case for 
himself ; a representation such as may, or might, if needed, 
serve to vindicate him in the eyes of a bystander, and to give 
him the advantage in a controversy. This of course tends to 
heighten his resentment, and to satisfy him that he " doeth well 
to be angry ; " or perhaps to persuade him that he is not an- 
gry, but is a model of patience under intolerable wrongs. And 
the man of superior ingenuity and eloquence will do this more 
skilfully than an ordinary man, and will thence be likely to be 
the more effectually self-deceived ; for though he may be supe- 
rior to the other in judgment, as well as in ingenuity, it is to 
be remembered that while his judgment is likely to be, in his 
own cause, biassed, and partially blinded, his ingenuity is 
called forth to the utmost. 

And the like takes place if it be selfish cupidity, unjust par- 
tiality in favor of a relative or friend, party spirit, or any other 
passion that may be operating. For, universally, men are too 
apt to take more pains in justifying their propensities, than it 
would cost to control them ; and a man of superior powers 
will often be in this way entrapped by his own ingenuity, like 
a spider entangled in the web she has herself spun. Most 
persons are fearful, even to excess, of being misled by the 
eloquence of another^; but an ingenious reasoner ought to be 

1 1 have known a man accordingly shun the acquaintance of another, of 
whom he knew no harm, solely from his dread of him as a man who, he im- 
agined, " could prove anything." Men of a low tone of morality, judging 
from themselves, take for granted that whoever " has a giant's strength," will 
not scruple to use it like a giant." 



ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



49 



especially fearful of his own. There is no one whom he is 
likely so much, and so hurtfully to mislead, as himself, if he be 
not sedulously on his guard against this self-deceit. 

6. The greatest, however, of all the obstacles to the habit 
of following truth, is the tendency to look in the yie^a of expe- 
first instance to the expedient. Expediency 
does not, in reality, stand opposed to truth, except when made 
its rival for precedence ; but while the genuine lover of truth 
always regards that as the only sure road to the expedient, 
the generality of men look out first for what is expedient, and 
are contented if they can afterwards reconcile that (which, with 
a biassed mind, they are very likely to accomplish) with a 
conviction of truth. And this is the sin which most easily 
besets those who are engaged in the instruction of others ; and 
it besets them the more easily, inasmuch as the consciousness 
of falsehood, even if it exist in the outset, will very soon wear 
away. He who does not begin by preaching what he thor- 
oughly believes, will speedily end by believing what he preaches. 
His habit of discriminating the true from the false, the well- 
established from the doubtful, will soon decay for want of 
assiduous exercise ; and thus inured to the practice of dispens- 
ing with complete sincerity for the sake of supposed utility, 
and accustomed to support true conclusions by any premises 
that offer, he will soon lose, through this faulty practice, even 
the power of distinguishing what conclusions are true.^ 

§ V. The temptations to this fault are so great, the occur- 
rence of it so frequent, and the mischief of it so cautionary max- 
incalculable, that I cannot, perhaps, better close 
these remarks than by classing, under a few comprehensive 
heads, the cautions to be observed in avoiding it. 



1 Essay HI. (Third Series) § YI. 

5 



50 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



1. First, then, one who would cherish in himself an at- 
„. tachment to truth, must never allow himself 

No unfair argu- ' 

ment to be used. either to advauce any argument, or to admit and 
acquiesce in any when advanced by another, which he knows 
or suspects to be unsound or fallacious ; however true the 
conclusion may be to which it leads, however convincing 
the argument may be to those it is addressed to, and how- 
ever important it may be that they should be convinced. It 
springs from, and it will foster and increase, a want of ven- 
eration for truth. It is an affront put on " the Spirit of truth ; " 
it is a hiring of the idolatrous Syrians to fight the battles of 
the Lord God of Israel. And it is on this ground that we 
should adhere to the most scrupulous fairness of statement and 
argument. He who believes that sophistry will always in the 
end prove injurious to the cause supported by it, is probably 
right in that belief ; but if it be for that reason that he ab- 
stains from it, — if he avoid fallacy, wholly or partly^ through 
fear of detection^ — it is plain he is no sincere votary of truth. 

2. On the same principle we are bound never to counte- 
Nor erroneous no- naucc any crroncous opinion, however seemingly 

tion countenanced. b^^eficial iu itS rCSUltS, — tO COUuivC at UO Sal- 

utary delusion (as it may^ appear), but to open the eyes (when 
opportunity offers, and in proportion as it offers) of those we 
are instructing to any mistake they may labor under, though 
it may be one which leads them ultimately to a true result, 
and to one of which apparently they might otherwise fail. 
The temptation, accordingly, to depart from this principle, is 
sometimes excessively strong ; because it will often be the 
case that men will be in some danger, in parting with a long- 
admitted error, of abandoning at the same time some truth they 
have been accustomed to connect with it. Accordingly I have 
heard censure passed on the endeavors to enlighten the adher- 

1 See Essay HI. (Third Series) § III. 



ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



51 



ents of some erroneous churches, on the ground that many of 
them thence become atheists, and many the wildest of fanatics. 
That this should have been in some instances the case, is 
highly probable : it is a natural result of the pernicious effects 
on the mind of any system of blind, unmquiring acquiescence. 
Such a system is an evil spirit, which we must expect will 
cruelly rend and mangle the patient as it comes out of him, 
and will leave him half dead at its departure. 

Again, the belief in the plenary inspiration of Scripture, — 
its being properly and literally the " Word of God,'' merely 
uttered or committed to writing by the sacred penman, in the 
very words supernaturally dictated to them, and the consequent 
belief in its complete and universal infallibility, not only on 
religious, but also on historical and philosophical points, — 
these notions, which prevail among a large portion of 
Christians, are probably encouraged or connived at by very 
many of those who do not, or at least did not originally, in 
their own hearts, entertain any such belief. But they dread 
" the unsettling of men's minds ; " they fear that they would be 
unable to distinguish what is, and what is not, matter of inspi- 
ration ; and, consequently, that their reverence for Scripture 
and for religion altogether would be totally destroyed : while, 
on the other hand, the error they urge is very harmless — 
leading to no practical evil, but rather to piety of life. 

Incredible as it may seem, it is a fact that objections have 
been made to the removal of the vulgar error of regarding the 
chapters and verses as divisions made by the sacred writers 
themselves. Much indistinctness and confusion of thought 
have often arisen from the practice of reading each chapter as 
a distinct treatise, or branch of a treatise ; though a chapter, in 
fact, often begins in the middle of an argument, or even of a 
sentence. But it was urged that it would " unsettle men's 
minds " to undeceive them. 



52 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



On a like principle I have known some pious persons object 
to any alteration of those passages of our (in general excellent) 
version of the Bible, in which they admit that our translators 
have mistaken the sense of the original. It has a tendency, 
they think, to " unsettle the mind of the vulgar, " who had better 
be left to receive the Bible — that is, our authorized version of 
it — as the word of God, without any suspicion of the possibility 
of error in any passage they read ; since if once (it is urged) 
they doubt the infallibility of our translators, they may go on 
to doubt whether this, and that, or any passage of Scripture 
may not be mistranslated ; till at length the Bible will be, to 
them, no revelation at all. 

This procedure is of a piece with that of the Church of 
Rome in pronouncing the infallibility of the Yulgate version : 
a step which proved a convenience for the moment, and has 
placed them in a dilemma ever since ; either the admission, or 
the denial, of any error in the Vulgate, being equally dangerous 
to the church's claim of infallibility. The inexpediency/, in 
the end, of our proceeding on such a principle in respect of 
our translation, is to me very clear ; but I despair of explaining 
it to the satisfaction of any one who chooses to try the ques- 
tion on that ground. To any one w^ho is resolved to follow 
honesty for its own sake, it may easily be made to appear, in 
this case, that it is the best policy also.^ 

And doubtless such feelings as I have been alluding to 
had a share in inducing the Roman Catholics to retain the 
Apocrypha in their Bible. Many of the learned among them 
must surely have known that these books have no title to be 
considered as part of the Holy Scriptures ; " but they are on 
the whole," they may have thought, "rather edifying than 
hurtful, and to reject them might shake men's faith in the 
whole of Scripture." The same reasoning probably operates 

1 See Easy Lessons on Christian Evidences. Lesson III. 



ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



53 



with many of them to induce them to maintain the infallibihtj 
of the church, the authority of their traditions, etc. Indeed, 
the fauh I have been speaking of is of the very essence of a 
system of "pious frauds." Would that Protestants did not 
so readily flatter themselves that their separation from the 
Church of Rome exempts them from all danger of errors hke 
hers ! 

There is a strong temptation, again, to foster or connive at 
the popular error of expecting under the Christian dispensation 
those temporal rewards and punishments which form no part 
of the system ; a mistake which no doubt has often produced 
partial good results, and which there will often be, and oftener 
appear to be, danger in removing.^ 

Of the same character is the belief that the moral precepts 
of the Levitical law are (on the authority of that law) binding 
on Christians ; and that the observance of the Lord's day is a 
duty to which they are bound by the fourth commandment.^ 
Though the desired conclusions may in these and similar cases 
be reached by the paths of truth, there will be an apparent, 
and sometimes a real danger that those who have been long 
used to act rightly on erroneous principles, may fail of those con- 
clusions when undeceived. In such cases it requires a thorough 
love of truth, and a firm reliance on divine support, to adhere 
steadily to the straight course. 

3. A like danger will often be our appointed trial in the 

1 See Discourse on National Blessings and Judgments. 

2 Of course I am not at present alluding to those who, after a full and candid 
examination, are themselves convinced of this ; whose sincere and deliberate 
belief is that the fourth commandment does extend to Christians, but that it is 
sufficiently obeyed by the observance of ihQ first day of the week instead of the 
seventh ; or that the precise directions of an express command of Scripture, 
which is admitted to be binding on us, may allowably be altered by the tradi- 
tions of the church. Though I cannot but regard such views as erroneous, the 
error does not belong to the class now under discussion. See Thoughts on the 
Sabbath. 

5* 



54 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



converse case also ; in firmly resolving to suppress no clearly- 
revealed gospel truth, through apprehension of ill consequences. 
Then only can we be " pure from the blood of all men," if we 
" have not shunned to set before them all the counsel of God." 
He did, indeed, himself think fit to hide for many ages, under 
the veil of the Levitical law, the coming of the Messiah's 
kingdom ; and it is but a small part, probably, of the great 
scheme of redemption that he has as yet imparted to us ; but 
he has not authorized mati to suppress any part of what he 
has revealed ; and it is an impious presumption even to inquire 
into the expediency of such a procedure. 

4. Lastly, as we must not dare to withhold or disguise 
revealed religious truth, so we must dread the 

No dread to be 

entertained of the progrcss of no Other truth. Wc must not imi- 

progress of science. i,. ti. i i* • T/-iT 

tate the bigoted hierarchy who imprisoned Gali- 
leo, and step forward, Bible in hand (like the profane Israelites 
carrying the Ark of God into the field of battle), to check the 
inquiries of the geologist, the astronomer, or the political econ- 
omist, from an apprehension that the cause of religion can be 
endangered by them.^ Any theory, on whatever subject, that 
is really sound, can never be inimical to a religion founded on 
truth ; and any that is unsound may be refuted by arguments 
drawn from observation and experiment, without calling in the 
aid of revelation. If we give way to a dread of danger from 
the inculcation of any scriptural doctrine, or from the progress 
of physical or moral science, we manifest a want of faith in 
God's power, or in his will, to maintain his own cause. That 
we shall indeed best further his cause by fearless perseverance 
in an open and straight course, I am firmly persuaded ; but it 
is not only when we perceive the mischiefs of falsehood and 
disguise, and the beneficial tendency of fairness and candor, 
that we are to be followers of truth. The trial of our faith is 



1 See First Lectures on Political Economy. 



ox THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



55 



when we cannot perceive this ; and the part of a lover of truth 
is to follow her at all seeming hazards, after the example of 
Him who " came into the world that He might bear witness to 
the truth. " ^ 

No one, in fact, is capable of fully appreciating the ultimate 
expediency of a devoted adherence to truth in all that relates 
to the Christian religion, except the divine Author of it ; be- 
cause he alone comprehends the whole of that vast and imper- 
fectly revealed scheme of Providence, and alone can see the 
inmost recesses of the human heart, and alone can foresee and 
judge of the remotest consequences of human actions. And 
much of the good policy of the course I have been recommend- 
ing, which can be perceived by those of more cultivated minds, 
is beyond the comprehension of a great majority of mankind. 
The expediency of truth can be estimated by few ; but its intrin- 

1 " He came to establish a kingdom of truth ; that is, not a kingdom whose 
subjects should embrace on compulsion what is in itself true, and consequently 
should be adherents of truth by accident, but a kingdom whose subjects should 
have been admitted as such in consequence of their being ' of the truth; ' that is, 
men honestly disposed to embrace and ' obey the truth,' whatever it might be, 
that God should reveal, agreeably to what our Lord has elsewhere declared, 
that ' if any man will do {^e\€i, is willing to do) the will of my Father, he shall 
know of the doctrine,' etc. 

" To any persons who are not ' of the truth,' in the above sense; that is, who, 
though they believe (as every one does) many things that are true, yet have not 
heartily set themselves, with perfect candor and self-devotion, to ascertain as far 
as possible, and to obey at all hazards, God's truth, — to such persons these 
views will of course be likely to appear strange and fanciful, perplexing, and 
perhaps offensive ; and they will accordingly seek for some different interpreta- 
tion. 

" But when they explain Christ's declaration of his having ' come into the 
world to bear witness of the truth,' in some sense in itself intelligible, but quite 
unconnected with the inquiry he was answering as to his being ' a king,' they 
forget that what he said must have had not only some meaning, but some meari- 
inf[^ pertinent to the occasion ; and this they seem as much at a loss for as Fiiate 
himself, who exclaimed, 'What is truth?' not from being ignorant of the 
meaning of the word, but from perceiving no connection between ' truth ' and 
the inquiry respecting the claim to regal office." — Essay I. on the Kingdom of 
Christ, § IX. 



56 



WHATELrS ESSAYS. 



sic loveliness, by all. None are precluded, by want of intel- 
lectual power and culture, from that undoubting faith and firm 
reliance on their great Master which will lead them to aim at 
truth out of veneration to him ; to reject disguise, and sophistry, 
and equivocation, at once, as hateful to him, without stopping 
to inquire what further evil they may lead to. 

And it is no more than needful that those who act thus should 
Human appro- havc a morc than common assurance of His 
bL?owed'"e approbation; for they will often fail of that 
lover of truth. their fcUow-mcn. Besides being occasionally 

censured as rash and mischievous, they will constantly find a 
want of sympathy in those (and they, I fear, are a majority) 
whose character is, in this point, opposite. They may be 
valued indeed by many persons for other good qualities ; but 
that zealous, thorough-going love of truth which I have been 
describing, is very seldom admired, or liked, or indeed under- 
stood, except by those who possess it. Courage, liberality, 
activity, etc., are often highly prized by those who do not pos- 
sess them in any great degree ; but the quality I am speaking 
of, is, by those deficient in it, either not perceived where it 
exists, or perceived only as an excess and extravagance. 

" There is nothing covered," however, " that shall not be 
revealed ; nor hid, that shall not be known." And the gen- 
uine and fearless lover of truth, who has sought, not the 
praise of men, but the praise of God " who seeth in secret," shall 
be " sanctified through his truth " here, and by him " be 
rewarded openly " hereafter. 



ON THE LOVE OF TRUTH. 



57 



NOTE TO ESSAY 1. 



Note A — Page 26. 

Something may be inculcated at one time, and not at another, 
either from its being true at the one time and not at another ; or, 
again, from its being needful to be set forth at one time, and not at 
another. Bat this distinction, though obvious when stated, is, in 
practice, often overlooked. 

For instance, from the omission in the Apostles' Creed of all 
mention of the Divinity of Christ, and of the Atonement, some have 
inferred that the doctrines were not, at the time that Creed was 
framed, believed as true. But the proper inference is, that they 
were omitted because they were not, at that time, doubted; the 
earliest heresies having had reference to quite different points. We 
should not expect to find in a symbol any notice of articles of faith 
hitherto uncontroverted. In later symbols, the mention of these 
doctrines was called forth by the heresies which subsequently arose. 

On the other hand, Christ's disclaimer of a temporal kingdom 
was evidently called forth at that particular time by the circumstan- 
ces of his trial before Pilate ; but it would be monstrous to sup- 
pose that those circumstances would have induced him to make a 
declaration that was not true, — to give a description of his king- 
dom different from what really belonged to it, or from what he 
designed it to become. And yet many, even of the early Christian 
emperors, were urged to put down idolatry and heresy by the civil 
sword.^ Jesus had indeed forbidden his disciples to draw the 
sword in his cause, or to call down fire from heaven on those who 
rejected him ; and had declared his kingdom to be not of this 
world ; " and his first followers had propagated his religion by 
gentle persuasion, " not rendering evil for evil," " but in meekne-s 
instructing them that oppose themselves." But then it was replied 
that such a procedure was suited only to the first beginnings of 

1 " Not more than twenty years after Constantine's entire possession of the 
empire, Julius Firmicus Maternus calls upon the Emperors Constantius and 
Constans to extirpate the relics of the ancient religion ; . . . . modicum tantum 
superest, ut legibus vestris .... extincta idololatriae pereat funesta contagio." 
— Paley's Evidences, Part II. chap. 9. 



58 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



Christianity ; that the earliest disciples had no power, when as yet 
magistrates and kings were not arrayed on their side,^ forcibly to 
suppress idolatry ; and that our Lord's language to Pilate, and his 
rejection of the attempts to make Him a king, had reference to the 
then prevailing expectations of a temporal Messiah. Now there was 
undoubtedly this expectation of an anointed Son of David, who 
should reign in bodily person over the Jews, and should bestow on 
Ms followers not only the spiritual blessings relating to a future 
state, but also worldly power and splendor ; and doubtless his 
disclaimer had reference to these expectations. But the question is, 
Was this the cause of Christ's kingdom actually heing of such a char- 
acter as he described it ; or, merely of Ms insisting on this, in those 
particular expressions, and on those particular occasions ? Are his 
rebukes to his disciples for offering to call down fire from heaven 
and to fio^lit in his cause, — rebukes which were evidentlv called 
forth by their mistaken zeal on each occasion, — are these to be 
regarded as having reference to these occasions only, or as descrip- 
tive of the character of the religion universally ? ^ 

And what has been said of the employment of force^ may equally 
be applied to the employment of frauds in the cause of Christianity. 
Those who have practised pious frauds in the cause of Christianity, 
probably committed (unknown to themselves) a similar error to the 
one just mentioned, in their view of those passages of Scripture 
which insist on " truth " as a characteristic feature of the religion. 
Those expressions^ indeed, were probably called forth, in many in- 
stances, by the peculiar circumstances attending the first promulga- 
tion of the gospel ; but the character of the gospel itself is " the 
same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." 

1 " ISTon invenitur exempliim in evangelicis et apostolicis Uteris, aliquid petitum 
a regibus terrae pro ecclesia, contra inimicos ecclesiae: quis negat non inveniri? 
Sed nondum implebatur ilia prophetia, et nunc reges intelligite, erudimini, qui 
judicatis terram; servile Domino in timore. Adhuc enim iliud implebatur quod 
in eodem psalmo paullo superius dicitur; Quare iremuerunt gentes, et populi 
meditati sunt inania? " etc. — Augustine, Epist. 93, cliap. iii. § 9. 

The remainder of the passage is curious, in which this Father goes on to rep- 
resent the two opposite decrees of King Nebuchadnezzar as types of the two 
conditions of the church; the sentence of death passed on the three pious Jews 
who refused to worship the golden idol, being typical of the times of the apos- 
tles and martyrs; and the present time (Augustine's) being represented by the 
decree of the same king, that whosoever should " speak anything amiss against 
the God of those Jews, should be cut in pieces." 

2 See Essay V. (Third Series) § lY. 



ESSAY II 



ON THE DIFFICULTIES AND THE VALUE OF THE 
WRITINGS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL GENERALLY. 

§ I. There appears to be a very remarkable analogy be- 
tween the treatment to which Paul was himself 
exposed during his personal ministry on earth, 

posed than any of 

^,,■,.1-,. 1 1 . the apostles to the 

and that which his works have met with since, ^t^ucks both of 
In both he stands distinguished in miiny points ^f^- ^-Zal^Zt 
amonoj the preachers of the gospel ; and it is personally and in 
possible that this distinction may in some way 
be connected with the peculiar manner in which he became 
one of that number. 

The same apostle who had been originally so bitter a per- 
secutor of the Christians, was exposed, after his conversion, to 
a greater variety of afflictions in the gospel cause than any of 
the others. He not only had to endure a greater amount of 
persecution than any of the rest, from unbelievers, but was also 
pecuh'arly harassed by vexatious opposition, and mortifications 
of every kind, from his Christian brethren. He was not only 
" in labors more abundant," — he not only endured a double 
portion of imprisonments, scourgings, stoning, perils of every 
kind from the enemies of the gospel, — being specially hated by 
the Jews on account of his being the Apostle of the Gentiles 
— the overthrower of the proud distinctions of Israel " after 
the flesh," — but he was also troubled by the perversity of his 



60 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



own converts, — especially such of them as were corrupted by 
false teachers, — who endeavored to bring them into subjection 
to the Mosaic law, and labored to undervalue his claims as a 
true apostle, and to rival him in the estimation of his ow^n 
churches. 

It is not unlikely that his Lord designed thus to place him 
foremost in the fight, — thus to assign to him, both the most 
hazardous, and also the most harassing and distressing offices 
in the Christian ministry, — on account of his having once been 
a blasphemer and persecutor : not as a punishment, or again 
that he might atone and make compensation for his former sin 
(which no man can do), but that he might have an opportunity 
of completely retracing his steps, and of feeling that he did so ; 
that he might display a zeal, and firmness, and patience, and 
perseverance above all the rest, in the cause which he had 
once oppressed ; that, by having his own injurious treatment 
of Christians continually brought to his mind by what he him- 
self endured, he might the more deeply and deliberately humble 
himself before God for it ; that he might find room to exercise, 
in his dealings with unbelievers, all that full knowledge of the 
perverse prejudices of the human mind, with which his own 
memory would furnish him, by reflecting on his own case ; and 
finally, that both he and the other apostles might feel that he 
was placed fully on a level with them, notwithstanding his for- 
mer opposition to the cause, by enduring and accomplishing 
in it more than all the rest, by suffering more than he had ever 
inflicted, by forwarding the cause of truth more than he had 
ever hindered it, and by bearing with him this pledge that God 
had fully pardoned him, — the pledge of his being counted wor- 
thy not only to suffer in his Master's cause, but to suffer more 
than any other, and with greater effect. He who had been 
accessory to the stoning of Stephen, himself alone of the apos- 
tles, as far as we know, suffered stoning ; he who had been so 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE WRITINGS OF PAUL. 



61 



zealous in behalf of the law of Moses, was destined to encounter 
not only unbelieving Jews, but those Christians also who 
labored to corrupt Christianity by mixing the law of Moses 
with it ; he who had been, as he expresses it, " exceedingly 
mad against the disciples, and persecuted them even unto 
strange cities," was himself driven from city to city by enemies 
whose fury knew no bounds, both of his own countrymen, and 
of the senseless rabble of idolaters who assailed him, like " wild 
beasts, at Ephesus." He who had misinterpreted the ancient 
prophecies respecting the Messiah, and despised his disciples, 
had to endure not only the contradiction and derision of unbe- 
lievers, but also the wilfulness and perversity of " false breth- 
ren," who misrepresented and distorted the doctrines he himself 
taught ; and of arrogant rivals, who strove to bring him into 
disrepute with those who had learned the faith from him.^ 

1 " Here, then, we have a man of liberal attainments, and in other points of 
sound judgment, who had addicted his life to the service of the gospel. We see 
him, in the prosecution of his purpose, travelling from country to country, en- 
during every species of hardship, encountering every extremity of danger, — 
assaulted by the populace, punished by the magistrates, scourged, beat, stoned, 
left for dead; expecting, wherever he came, a renewal of the same treatment 
and the same dangers, yet, when driven from one city, preaching in the next ; 
spending his whole time in the employment, sacrificing to it his pleasures, his 
ease, his safety; persisting in this course to old age, unaltered by the experience 
of perverseness, ingratitude, prejudice, desertion; unsubdued by anxiety, want, 
labor, persecutions ; unwearied by long confinement, undismayed by the pros- 
pect of death. Such was St. Paul. We have his letters in our hands ; we have 
also a history purporting to be written by one of his fellow-travellers, and ap- 
pearing, by a comparison with these letters, certainly to have been written by 

some person well acquainted with the transactions of his life." " We also 

find him positively, and in appropriated terms, asserting that he himself worked 
miracles, strictly and properly so called, in support of the mission which he exe- 
cuted, — the history, meanwhile, recording various passages of his ministry which 
come up to the extent of this assertion. The question is, whether falsehood was 
ever attested by evidence like this. Falsehoods, we know, have found their way 
into reports, into traditions, into books ; but is an example to be met with of a 
man voluntarily undertaking a life of want and pain, of incessant fatigue, of 
continual peril; submitting to the loss of his home and his country, to stripes 
and stoning, to tedious imprisonment, and the constant expectation of a vie- 

6 



62 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



In all these struggles he was " more than conqueror, through 
Christ that strengthened" him. Trusting that his Master 
would enable him to go through the work to which he had 
been appointed, and would turn even the malice and perver- 
sity of men to " the furtherance of the gospel," he " rejoiced 
that Christ was preached," even when it was " through envy 
and strife" by those " who thought to add affliction " to the 
apostle's bonds ; he exulted in that very bondage, because 
it was made the means of introducing him to the notice of 
some among the Romans to whom he might not otherwise 
have gained access (Phil. i. 12-18) ; and at Philippi, when 
cruelly scourged and imprisoned untried by the Roman magis- 
trates, he joyfully trusted that Christ would make even this a 
means of forwarding his cause, — which was done in the conse- 
quent conversion of the jailer and his family ; the germ, prob- 
ably, in conjunction with the household of Lydia, of the 
exemplary church of the Philippians.^ 

A like fate seems to attend the writings, also, which this 
blessed apostle and martyr left behind him. No part of the 

lent death, for the sake of carrying about a story of what was false, and of what, 
if false, he must have known to be &o? " — Paley's Horaa Paulinas, pp. 338, 339. 

1 The whole narrative of this transaction is particularly affecting, from the 
strong relief in which the incidents are set by the quiet simplicity of the lan- 
guage: " The magistrates rent off their clothes and commanded to beat them. 
And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, 
charging the jailer to keep them safely; who, having received such a charge, 
thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And 
at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God ; and the prisoners 
heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the founda- 
tions of the prison were shaken ; and immediately all the doors were opened, 
and every one's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking out 
of his sleep, and seeing the prison-doors open, he drew his sword and would 
have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried 
with a loud voice, saying. Do thyself no harm ; for we are all here. Then he 
called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before 
Paul and Silas, and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be 
saved? " — Acts xvi. 22-30. 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE WRITINGS OF PxVUL. 



63 



scriptures of the New Testament has been so unjustly neg- 
lected hj some Christians, and so much perverted bj others ; 
over and above the especial hatred of them by infidels and by 
some description of heretics. Still may Paul be said to stand 
in his works, as he did in person while on earth, in front of the 
battle ; to bear the chief brunt of assailants from the enemy's 
side, and to be treacherously stabbed by false friends on his 
own ; degraded and vilified by one class of heretics, perverted 
and misinterpreted by another, and too often most unduly neg- 
lected by those who are regarded as orthodox. And still do 
his works stand, and will ever stand, as a mighty bulwark of 
the true Christian faith. He, after having himself " fought the 
good fight, and finished his course," has left behind him a mon- 
ument in his works whereby " he being dead yet speaketh," — 
a monument which his Master will guard (even till that day 
when its author shall receive the " crown of righteousness laid 
up for him ") from being overthrown by the assaults of ene- 
mies, and from mouldering into decay through the negligence 
of friends. 



§ II. In order to avoid being misunderstood as to the sense 
in which this apostle's writings have been Ambiguity of the 
spoken of as a principal bulwark of gospel truth, "^^^^ oospei. 
and as to the censure passed on the comparative neglect they 
sometimes meet with, I must entreat the reader's attention to 
some considerations, which, though frequently overlooked in 
practice, are so obvious when once fairly presented to the 
mind, that I fear it may be thought trifling to dwell on them. 

Of all the ambiguities of language that have ever confused 
men's thoughts, and thence led to pernicious results in practice 
(and unspeakable is the mischief which has thus been done), 
there are few, perhaps, that have ever produced more evil 
than the ambiguity of the word " Gospel." The word, as is 



64 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 

well known, signifies, according to its etymology (as well as 
the Greek term of which it is a translation), " good tidings ; " 
and thence is applied especially to the joyful intelligence of 
salvation for fallen man through Christ. The same term has 
come to be applied, naturally enough, to each of the histories 
which give an account of the life of him, the Author of that 
salvation ; and thence men are frequently led to seek exclu- 
sively, or principally, in those histories, for an account of the 
doctrines of the Christian religion : for where should they look, 
they may say, for " gospel truth," but in the " Gospels ? " And 
yet it is plain, on a moment's reflection, that whether they are 
right or wrong in such a practice, this reason for it is no more 
than a play upon words ; for no one really supposes that when 
the apostles went forth to preach the gospel, the meaning of 
that is that they recited the histories composed by Matthew, 
Mark, Luke, and John, which were not written till long after; 
or even that their teaching was confined to the mere narrative 
of the things there recorded. 

In the primary sense of the word Gospel, — the " good tid- 
ings of great joy to all people," which were first 

Full instruction 

in the Christian proclaimed (preached) by the heavenly messen- 

scheme not to be . .t tit in i t -r 

found in the four 

gers to tne sneplierds, ana atterwards by Jesus 
evangdistsj^^^but j^-^ ^jg^^ipigg^ — ^j^jg gensc, the Writings 

P^^pf' "'^'"^^"^ of the evangelists do contain nearly the whole 
of the gospel, and, as has been just remarked, 
derived from this their title. Ours is an historical religion ; 
not only connected with, but founded on, certain recorded 
events, ■ — the birth, life, death, and resurrection of the Saviour ; 
the pouring out of his Spirit on the disciples, etc. Strictly 
speaking, therefore, the gospel is the annunciation of what 
God has done for man. What man is to do on his part, — the 
means towards the end, — the Christian faith and practice by 
which he must attain to a share of the proffered blessings, — 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE WRITINGS OF FAUL. G5 

these are properly gospel doctrine ; but, by a natural transition, 
have come to be frequently called, simply, the Gospel, It is 
not necessary, however, to be curious about words, any further 
than is necessary to secure us against being misled by them in 
respect of things. I am indifferent whether the apostolic epis- 
tles are called a part of the gospel, or not, provided it be but 
admitted, and carefully kept in mind, that they are necessary 
to direct us how to attain the blessings of the gospel. An 
announcement of the existence, and of the miraculous efficacy 
of a tree of life, would be of no benefit to those who were not 
instructed how to procure and partake of its fruit. 

But there is yet another and less obvious ambiguity in the 
same word. Our Lord, while on earth, was employed, together 
with his disciples, we are told, in preaching " the gospel of the 
kingdom ; " that is, the good tidings that " the kingdom of heaven 
[as he himself expressed it] was at handJ^ And good tidings 
these certainly were, to the Jews and others who looked for 
the Messiah's promised kingdom (to whom alone he preached), 
that this kingdom was just about to be established. And since, 
therefore, Jesus is spoken of as preaching the gospel, many are 
hence led to look to his discourses alone, or principally, as the 
storehouse of divine truth, to the neglect of the other Sacred Writ- 
ings. But the gospel which Jesus himself preached, was not the 
same thing with the gospel which he sent forth his apostles to 
preach after his resurrection. This may at the first glance 
appear a paradox; but on a moment's consideration it will 
seem rather a truism, that the preaching of Jesus and that of 
the apostles was not, and could not be, the same ; though 
they were, each, the gospel. I do not mean, of course, that 
they were two different systems, — much less, at variance with 
each other, — but the one was a part only, and the other a 
whole ; or rather, I should say, a greater part of that stupendous 
6* 



66 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



whole which is not to be entirely revealed to us here on earth, 
— the stupendous mystery of man's redemption. 

How, indeed, could our Lord, during his abode on the earth, 
preach fully that scheme of salvation of which the keystone 
had not been laid, even his meritorious sacrifice as an atone- 
ment for sin, his resurrection from the dead, and ascension 
into glory, when these events had not taken place ? He did 
indeed darkly hint at these events in his discourses to his dis- 
ciples (and to them alone), by way of prophecy; but we are 
told that " the saying was hid from them, and they compre- 
hended it not, till after that Christ was risen from the dead." 
Of course, therefore, there was no reason, and no room, for 
Him to enter into a full discussion of the doctrines dependent 
on those events. He left them to be enlightened in due time as 
to the true nature of His kingdom, by the gift which He kept in 
store for them : " I have yet many things to say unto you, but 
ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of 
truth, is come, he shall guide you into all [the] truth." There 
would have been no need of this promise, had our Lord's 
own discourses contained a full account of the Christian faith. 

But " the gospel of the kingdom " which He preached was, 
that the " kingdom of Heaven was at hand^'' — not that 
it was actually established ; which was the gospel preached by 
His apostles, when Christ, " having been made perfect through 
sufferings," had entered into his kingdom, had "ascended 
up on high, and led captive " the oppressor of men, and had 
" received gifts " to bestow on them. Our Lord's discourses, 
therefore, while on earth, though they teach, of course, the 
truth, do not teach, nor could have been meant to teach, the 
whole truth, as afterwards revealed to his disciples. They 
could not, indeed, even consistently with truth, have contained 
the main part of what the apostles preached; because that 
was chiefly founded on events which had not then taken place. 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE WRITINGS OF PAUL. 



67 



What chance, then, can the j have of attaining true Christian 
knowledge, who shut their eyes to such obvious conclusions as 
these ? — who, under that idle plea, the misapplication of the 
maxim that "the disciple is not above his master," confine 
their attention entirely to the discourses of Christ recorded in 
the four Gospels, as containing all necessary truth ; and if 
anything in the other parts of the Sacred Writings is forced 
upon their attention, studiously explain it away, and limit its 
signification, at all hazards, so that it may not go one step beyond 
what is clearly revealed in the works of the evangelists ? — as 
if a man should, in the culture of a fruit tree, carefully destroy 
and reject, as a spurious excrescence, every part of the fruit 
which was not fully developed in the blossom that preceded it ! 

Even if Christ had in person publicly preached after his 
resurrection, as well as his apostles, this plea that " the disciple is 
not above his master " would not have excused the insult 
offered to him in the person of his messengers, — the insult, I 
mean, of making the authority he gave them go for just 
nothing at all ; which it does, if they are to be believed, just as 
far as they coincide with what he himself uttered in per- 
son, and no further ; since, thus far, any one of us is to be 
believed. For, the apostles, who were divinely commissioned 
by Christ himself, either were inspired by him with his Spirit, 
which " led them into all [the] truth^, or they were not. If we 
say that they were not, we make him a liar for giving them 
this commission and this promise, as well as them for preach- 
ing what they did ; if they were thus divinely authorized, it 
must follow, inevitably, that what they said (I mean in the 

1 Tljey were not inspired with a knowledge of all truth ; being in many things 
left to act on their own judgment, as they expressly tell us. But what they 
were inspired with was, as the Greek plainly intimates, " the knowledge of all the 
truth;" namely, that truth which they were commissioned to make known, — 
the mysteries of the Christian religion, in which Paul declares expressly he was 
instructed by the Lord himself. 



68 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



teaching of the Christian religion) was said by him^ and has 
exactly the same authority as it* he had uttered it with his 
own lips. Even an earthly king expects that a messenger, sent 
by him with satisfactory credentials and full powers, should 
receive the same credit for what he says as would be given to 
himself in person ; and would regard it as an unpardonable 
affront if the message so sent were rejected. " He that heareth 
you,'' said Christ to his apostles, " heareth me ; and he that 
despiseth you, desfiseth me ; and he that depiseth me, despiseth 
Him that sent me." 

But, in truth, not only is the preaching of the apostles to be 
regarded as of divine authority, and therefore not requiring 
confirmation from our Lord's personal discourses, nor submit- 
ting to limitation by them, but, from the very nature of the case, 
it is impossible that such a complete coincidence should exist 
between them. I have just above supposed the case of Jesus 
himself preaching publicly, after his resurrection, conjointly 
with his disciples ; but we know that he did not do this : he 
sent them forth to testify of events, and to teach doctrines 
founded on events, which had not taken place during his per- 
sonal ministry on earth. It is commonly supposed, indeed, by 
ignorant Christians (ignorant, I mean, of what they might 
learn from the Bible), that Jesus Christ came into the world 
to teach a true religion ; but in fact, he came, chiefly, for a 
different purpose. He did not come to make a revelation, so 
much as to be the subject of a revelation. He was only so far 
the revealer and teacher of the great doctrines of Christianity, 
as you might call the sun and planets the discoverers of the 
Newtonian System of Astronomy. He accomplished what he 
left his apostles to testify and to explain, — he offered up him- 
self on the cross, that they might teach the atoning virtue of his 
sacrifice ; he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, that 
they might declare the great mystery of his divine and human 



I 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE WRITINGS OF PAUL. 69 \ 

I 

nature, and preach that faith in him by which his followers \ 
hope to be raised and to reign with him. i 
The Christian faith is not merely to believe what Christ . ; 

taught, but to believe i/i him. As the promised Messiah, a 
man might believe in him while he was on earth ; but lohat 
the Messiah should be, and that he should be a Eedeemer by i 
his death, no one did or could understand till that great work 
was accomplished. The true character of the redemption, and ^ 
of the faith by which we must partake of it, and all the cir- 
cumstances of the Messiah's spiritual kingdom (a kingdom 
which did not exist during his ministry on earth), his apostles ■ 
themselves could not collect, even after his departure, from 
all his former discourses, till they had received inspiration : 
from on high to enable them to teach the true doctrines of 
the gospel. And when they did understand this gospel, they 
thought it necessary to give an explanation of it in their dis- 
courses and in their epistles. Those, therefore, w^ho neglect ■ 
their inspired preaching, and will learn nothing of Christianity 
except what they find in the discourses of Jesus, — confident j 
that these alone contain the whole truth, — are wilfully prefer- ! 
ring an imperfect to a more complete revelation, and setting 
their own judgment above that of the apostles. It is frightful to 
think how much they stake on this their supposed superiority — ' 
what consequences of their blind presumption they may have 
to abide : " professing themselves to be wise, they become 
fools ; " and as they despise the teaching of the Holy Ghost, I 
who led the apostles " into all truth," is it not to be feared : 
that if they persist in this their rejection of Him, He will give j 
them over to their ovm vain conceits ; and leave those who j 
have turned aside from the " Kving waters of the Spirit," to 
" hew out for themselves broken cisterns, that will hold no 
water ? " 

The books, then, which we call the four Gospels, do not, it : 



i 



70 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 

should always be remembered, contain a compendium of the 
Christian religion ; but, chiefly, memoirs of the life and pre- 
paratory teaching of its Founder : who came into the world not 
to make a revelation, so much as to be the subject of a revel- 
ation ; to announce the glad tidings (gospel) of salvation 
through Him, but not to give any full description of the means 
by which we are to embrace that salvation ; and who, at the 
close of His personal ministry, tells His disciples, "I have 
yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them 

Nor do the evangelists undertake the task of teaching the 
Christian faith ; since they wrote for the express use, not of 
unbelieving Jews and idolaters, but of Christians, who had 
heard the gospel doctrines preached, and then had been regu- 
larly instructed (catechized, as the word is in the original) and 
examined, and, finally, baptized into the faith. Christianity 
was not, as many are apt to suppose, founded on the four 
Gospels, but, on the contrary, the four Gospels were founded 
on Christianity ; that is, they were written to meet the demand 
of Christians, who were naturally anxious for something of a 
regular account of the principal events from which their faith 
was derived. Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set 
forth, in order, a declaration of those things which are most 

certainly helieved among us it seemed good to me also 

to write unto thee, in order, most excellent Theophilus, that 
thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou 
hast been instructed,^ ^ 

The book of the Acts of the Apostles, again, contains a 
history of the progress, but no detail of the teaching, of Chris- 
tianity. Many of the discourses mentioned as having been 
delivered, are not themselves recorded, — the object and design 
of the work being, as in the case of the four Gospels, not to 



DIFFICULTIES IK THE WRITINGS OF PAUL. 



71 



teach Christianity to its readers, who were already Christians, 
but to give them a history of its propagation.^ 

Our chief source, therefore, of instruction as to the doctrines 
of the gospel, must be in the apostolic epistles ; which cannot, 
indeed, be expected to afford a regular, systematic introduction 
to Christianity, an orderly detail of the first rudiments of the 
faith, calculated for the instruction of beginners entirely igno- 
rant of it, — since all of them were written to those who were 
already converts to Christianity, — but yet, from the variety of 
the occasions on which they were composed, and of the per- 
sons to whom they were addressed, and from their being 
purposely designed to convey admonition, instruction, and ex- 
hortation as to Christian doctrine and practice (which is not 
the case with any other part of the Sacred Yfritings), the apos- 
tolic epistles do contain, though scattered irregularly here and 
there, according to the several occasions, all the great doctrines 
of the gospel, as far as it has yet been revealed to men — ex- 
plained, enforced, repeated, illustrated, in an infinite variety of 
forms of expression : thus furnishing us with the means, by a 
careful study of those precious remains, and by a diligent 
comparison of one passage with another, of attaining sufficient 
knowledge of all necessary truth, and of becoming " wise unto 
salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus." ^ 

The most precious part of this treasure we have from the 
pen of the Apostle Paul, — he being the author of the far greater 
part of the epistles (about five sixths of the whole), and also 
furnishing even a greater variety still of instruction than in 
proportion to this amount, on account of the variety of the 

1 See Hinds's History of the Rise and Early Progress of Christianity. Part II. 
chap. 2. 

2 To the Scriptures, therefore, was assigned the office of proving; but to the 
church, that of systematically teaching, the Christian doctrines. (See Dr. Haw- 
kins's excellent little work on Tradition.) This circumstance seems to me to 
afford a powerful evidence of Christianity. See Essay Yl. (First Series.) 



72 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



times and circumstances and occasions which produced them, 
and of the persons to whom they were written, — individuals 
and entire churches ; Jews and Gentiles ; converts of his own 
making, and strangers to his person ; European or Asiatic ; 
sound and zealous Christians, and the negligent and misguided. 
The same faith is taught to all — the same duties enforced on 
all ; but various points of faith and of practice are dwelt on in 
each, according to the several occasions. This very thing, 
however, — the variety of the circumstances, the temporary and 
local allusions, and, in short, the thorough, earnest, business- 
like style of his letters, — cannot but increase the difficulty, in 
some places, of ascertaining the writer's meaning ; and those 
who are too indolent to give themselves any trouble on the 
subject, shelter themselves under the remark of the Apostle 
Peter, that the epistles of Paul contain "things hard to be un- 
derstood, which they that are unlearned wrest to their own 
destruction," — unlearned, that is, not in systems of human 
philosophy, but in the truths revealed in the Bible. No doubt 
his writings do contain ^' things hard to be understood ; " but 
that is a reason why Christians should take the more pains to 
understand them, and why those who are commissioned by 
the chief Shepherd for that purpose, should the more diligently 
explain them to their flocks. 

Nay, but his doctrines, it seems, are not only difficulty but 
dangerous also ; and, therefore, had better be kept out of sight, 
lest the unlearned should not only fail to understand them, but 
should " wrest them to their own destruction." Then let us 
throw aside the whole Bible at once, and invent a safe religion 
of our own. For hear but Peter's words : " Which they that 
are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other 
Scriptures^ to their own destruction." So that, if this inference 
is to be drawn at all, from the danger to the unlearned of 
wresting doctrines to their own destruction, — if, to avoid the 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE WRITINGS OF ST. PAUL. 73 



danger of misinterpretation, we are to seal up the book whicli 
contains them, the book so sealed up must be the Bible. 

Dangerous indeed ! Yes, most good things are dangerous 
(and the more in proportion to their excellence) 

Danger of mis- 

to those " who are unlearned and unstable ; " that interpretation not 

. 1 T deter us from 

IS, who will not learn how to use them aright, and the study of Paul's 
who are unstable, — unsteady in giving their at- 
tention to gain right knowledge, and to apply it in practice. 
Meat and drink are dangerous; for what multitudes fall a 
sacrifice to intemperance ! Shall we, then, resolve to perish 
with famine, and let our children starve around us, lest we and 
they should thus wrest to our destruction the good gifts of 
God ? — shall the pastors, who are commissioned to feed Christ's 
flock, shut them out from the principal pasture designed for 
their use, lest they should stray beyond its bounds, or come to 
some harm there ? What are Christian ministers appointed 
for, but to instruct the people in the Scriptures, — to explain 
to them those Scriptures, — and to warn them against the 
errors arising from the wresting and perverting of God's 
Word ? Ill would they perform their office should they dare 
to mutilate God's Word by leaving out everything that is 
"hard to be understood," to save themselves the trouble of 
interpreting it, — should they seek to preserve their hearers 
from the danger attendant on the gospel truths, by omitting to 
" declare to them all the counsel of God." 

And, after all, no such security as is sought can ever be 
found. Where there is true coin, there will always be coun- 
terfeit in circulation : there is no truth in the world that has 
not some error very much resembling it ; there is no virtue 
but there is a corresponding vice that apes its appearance; 
there is no right principle, in Scripture or anywhere else, that 
may not by the unlearned be " wrested to their own destruc- 
tion." Some will do this with the truths of Scripture, in spite 



74 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



of all our care ; but there is this difference, — that he who 
studies and leads others to study the whole word of God, as 
his inspired servants have left it, has at least good reason to 
hope that he and they may^ through God's Spirit, attain truth 
without error ; whereas he who confines himself to a part of 
the Scriptures, and that, too, a part which (it is plain from what 
has been just said) cannot contain the whole truth of the gos- 
pel, and he who wilfully disregards the teaching of Him whose 
" gospel was not after man, neither received of man, nor taught, 
but by the revelation of Jesus Christ," ^ — such an one is sure 
to be wrong, and to lead others wrong if they are guided by 
him ; and he is fully answerable, both for his own errors and 
for theirs ; he makes the experiment at his own peril ; and on 
his own head must be the inevitable consequence of rejecting 
an acknowledged revelation of Jesus Christ.^ 

And he must also bear the blame even of the errors into 
which others may lead his hearers. If they chance to listen to 
some wild Antinomian fanatic, who cites perpetually texts from 
Paul which they have never heard differently explained, how 
can it be expected that they should perceive and avoid the 
error ? They know that Paul's writings are admitted as can- 
onical and inspired ; and they have not been taught that his 
language will bear any other interpretation than what they 
hear given ; and the silence of their own pastor on the subject 
will have afforded them a presumption that he can suggest no 
other interpretation. And thus the wolf will scatter and de- 
vour the flock which their shepherd has forsaken. 

1 Lest I should seem to have been combating a shadow, it may. be as well to 
mention that the Discourse of which this Essay continues the substance, was 
called forth by the advice given, at that time, to divinity students, by persons 
high in office at Oxford, to abstain from the study of Paul's Epistles till they 
should have thoroughly mastered such and such books, — a list which would 
occupy at least ten years of hard study. But they were to be allowed to take 
Holy Orders in the mean time, and to act as instructors of whole congregations ! 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE WRITINGS OF PAUL. 75 

It is not, however, on the dangers to be apprehended from 
such a procedure, and the expediency of an opposite course, 
that I wish principally to dwell. I would rather advert to the 
principles laid down in the preceding Essay. Supposing we 
were in any case quite sure^ that no fanatical sectaries would 
arise to take advantage of our omission or neglect of this apos- 
tle's writings ; — should we then be justified in thus guarding 
against apprehended evils by keeping out of sight the instruc- 
tions he was commissioned by his Master to deliver ? — in 
taking such liberties with the gospel as to modify and fashion 
it according to our views, and virtually to expunge from the 
record of God's revelations what we chance to think unneces- 
sary ? Have we a right, in short, even to entertain the 
question concerning expediency, instead of considering simply 
what is the truth as declared by divine inspiration, and resolv- 
ing, at all events, to follow the truth ? 



§ III. It is necessary to observe, however, that there is a way 
of evadinoj the force of all that has been hitherto „ , 

° study of Paul's 

urged, — a plan which certainly may be, and writings not to be 

deferred till a raasa 

I fear in some instances has been, resorted to, of theological leam^ 

. . n • been ac- 

for nulnfymg m effect, without professing to quired from other 



sources. 



oppose, every argument that has been adduced. 
And it is this : to extol Paul's writings, and exhort men to the 
diligent study of them ; urging at the same time (what no one 
can deny) the importance of interpreting them rightly ; and 
insisting on a preliminary course of study, without which no 
one is even to enter on the perusal of them ; and then to make 
this preparation consist in a thorough acquaintance with such 
a list of books as even those professionally devoted to theolog- 
ical pursuits cannot be expected to master without the assiduous 



1 This is the remark, almost verbatim, of the late Bishop Copleston, in a cou- 
versation with the author, on the subject of the present Essay. 



76 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



labor of several years.^ No plan could be devised more effec- 
tual (were it generally adopted) for making Paul's epistles a 
sealed book to all but about one in ten thousand of the Chris- 
tian world. For supposing even all the clergy, nay, even all 
candidates for ordination, to have gone through this preparatory 
course of study, the same could not be expected of the laity, 
except a small portion of the educated classes. And the ben- 
efits, whatever they might be, of this preparation, would, after 
all, be confined to those few who had gone through it. They, 
indeed, if they were careful not even to open these epistles till 
their minds were sufficiently biassed by a great mass of human 
commentaries and disquisitions, would doubtless be prepared 
to understand them very differently from what they would 
have done on another system, — whether better or worse is not 
now the question, — but they would not, after all, be qualified 
to expound this writer to their flocks, nor authorized to recom- 
mend the perusal of him ; for these would be, by the hypothesis, 
unfit to enter on the study of his epistles, or to comprehend 
any exposition of them. And if the principle were consistently 
followed up, it would soon be remarked that the mass of 
unlearned Christians are not duly prepared for the thorough 
comprehension even of the rest of Scripture ; so that we should 
speedily arrive at the very point so earnestly contended for 
against the Reformers ; namely, the inexpediency of putting the 
Bible into the hands of the people, and the necessity of leaving 
them to be instructed by their pastors in whatever things these 
should judge most profitable for them, and level to their capac- 
ities. 

If these principles be correct, then it is false to say that the 

1 I was once urged to pledge myself not to examine candidates for Deacon^s 
Orders in the original of the apostolic epistles. I inquired, in reply, whether 
deacons were to be allowed to expound those epistles to the congregations, in 
their preaching. 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE WRITINGS OF PAUL. 



77 



Christian religion was designed, or at least is adapted, to be 
that of the mass of mankind. Some, who say that it is so, 
— while they ridicule the idea of instructing the lower orders 
in the evidences and in the peculiar doctrines of the gospel, — 
mean no more than this : that it is possible for a clown to prac- 
tise honesty, temperance, and other virtues which Christianity 
inculcates. But it would be thought strange to attribute an 
acquaintance with mechanics to savages and to brutes, on the 
ground that they employ the lever, keep the centre of grav- 
ity in the right situation, and accommodate their movements to 
mechanical principles, of which principles they know nothing. 
If Christianity were designed for the people, it must have been 
designed that their motives should be Christian faith and 
Christian hope, and that they should be able " to give a reason 
of the hope that is in them." 

Am I then contending, or did the Reformers mean to con- 
tend, that either Paul's epistles or the rest of the Scriptures 
can be as well understood by a clown or a child as by the 
most learned theologian ? Surely not. The highest abilities, 
improved by the most laborious study, are not more than suffi- 
cient for the full comprehension of the sacred books ; but, if on 
this ground they are not to be opened by any who are not so 
qualified, who will ever hecome thus qualified ? If a number 
of books be pointed out, without a knowledge of which the 
apostolic epistles cannot be fully understood, it may probably 
be added, with equal truth, that these books cannot be rightly 
understood without a knowledge of those epistles. If we are 
to begin at all, we must begin somewhere ; and we must, of 
course, begin in imperfection. Else, it might be said, that, 
since veteran soldiers are alone well fitted to perform their 
part, therefore none but veterans should be brought into the 
field. The obvious and honest way of proceeding is, not to 
postpone altogether the study of any part of Scripture till we 
7* 



78- 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



are qualified for the full comprehension of it (which, on 
such a plan, we never should be, since our minds would be 
preoccupied with human expositions), but to study both the 
Scriptures, and the best helps towards their explanation we can 
obtain, simultaneously; at the same time carefully guarding 
ourselves against arrogantly supposing that we do perfectly 
understand anything at the first glance. It is to this arrogant 
disposition that the Scriptures are dangerous. " A little learn- 
ing " is the utmost that the generality can attain : it is what all 
must attain before they can arrive at great learning : it is the 
utmost acquisition of those who know the most, in comparison 
of what they do not know. " A little learning " is, then, only 
(and then always) " a dangerous thing " when we overrate 
it, and are not aware of its littleness. 

On the sources of some of the principal errors which have 
sprung from the misinterpretation of this apostle's writings, 
and the means of guarding even ordinary Christians against 
them, I propose to offer some more particular remarks in some 
of the following Essays. 

For all that has been here urged, I should be glad to think 
that there is little occasion. To offer proofs of the existence 
of the error in question, such proofs as might be offered, is 
what could not be done with propriety. Some of my readers 
may, perhaps, regard me as combating a shadow, from having 
themselves never met with that depreciation of Paul's epistles 
which I have been deprecating. I have only to hope they 
never may. But I fear that on inquiry they will find it but 
too prevalent, — that they will even meet with some who have 
gone the length of proposing that no part of the Scriptures 
should be printed for circulation among the mass of the people 
^except the four Gospels, on the ground that they contain all 
things needful, and that " the things hard to be understood " in 
the epistles would serve only to perplex and mislead them. 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE WRITINGS OF PAUL. 



79 



A man who gives utterance to such an opinion, we may be 
sure, entertains it ; but how can we be sure that all those who 
do not give it utterance are strangers to it ? 

§ IV. There is good reason, however, to believe that the 
chief objection to Paul's writings is not from the 

Paul's writings 

things hard to be understood which they con- dreaded ciiiefiy 

from the unaccept- 

tain, but from the things easy to be understood, abienessof someof 
the doctrines so 'plainly taught by him, — " that ^^^ctnnes. 
by grace we are saved," " that the wages of sin is death," " but 
eternal life is the gift of God through Jesus Christ," that our 
most perfect righteousness can never entitle us to claim reward 
at the hands of God, nor our own unaided strength enable us 
to practise that righteousness ; but that the meritorious sacri- 
fice of Christ is the only foundation of the Christian's hope, 
and the aid of his Spirit the only support of the Christian's vir- 
tue. These are doctrines humbling to the pride of the human 
heart, and unacceptable to the natural man ; and therefore they 
are rejected by many, as leading to immoral life, and as favor- 
ing the notion that we may " continue in sin that grace may 
abound ; " though the moral precepts of this very apostle in 
every page, and his enforcement of a conformity to them as 
indispensable to the Christian's acceptance with God, fly in 
the face of every one who dares thus to wrest these Scriptures 
to his own destruction. 

But the dislike shown to the apostle's writings by those who 
on these grounds decry him, is a proof, if he was 

The vehemence 

inspired^ and they uninspired, not that he is with which his 

117 1 -rr» ^ t • • works have been 

wrong, but that they are.^ it the gospel is agamst decried, a proof of 
a man, he will be against the gospel. And the * importance, 
more any work is depreciated by those who are resolved 
to believe only just what they please, the higher ought its value 

1 See Gal. i. 11, 12, and 2 Cor. xii. 7-12. 



80 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



to rise in the estimation of those who are willing to " obey the 
truth." Now there is no one of the sacred writers whose 
expressions have been so tortured, whose authority has been 
so much set at nought, as Paul's, by those who reject many of 
the most characteristic doctrines of the gospel; which is a 
plain proof that they find him a formidable opponent,^ and 
which should lead those who prize the purity of the gospel to 
value his writings the more. I am far from insinuating that 
the great truths of Christianity, — the doctrines of the divinity 
of our blessed Lord, of his atoning sacrifice, and of salvation 
through him, — rest on this apostle's authority alone ; but a pre- 
sumption is afforded, by the very hostility shown towards him 
by the opponents of those doctrines, that he is particularly full 
and clear in enforcing them, and that he adds great confirma- 
tion to the testimony in their favor of the other sacred writers. 

It is perhaps to be wished, accordingly, that those who, with- 
out professing to reject Christianity, have avowedly labored to 
disparage this apostle, and to represent him as at variance with 
his Master, had written with more ability, and had attracted 
more notice, in order that they might have directed men's 
attention more strongly, not only to Paul's claims to a divine 
commission, but also to his importance as a bulwark of the 
Christian faith.^ And I wish also that some of them had set 
forth more strongly the alleged discrepancy between Paul's 
doctrines and those of the discourses of Jesus. This cer- 
tainly might have been done ; since, as was above remarked, 
though there is nothing contrary in the one to the other, there 
is much that is different^ as the nature of the case required, 

1 The Mahometans, who acknowledge the authority of the four Gospels 
(though they pretend the Christians have interpolated them), hold the name of 
Paul in detestation. 

2 At the time when this was written, a work had recently appeared, entitled, 
" Not Paul but Jesus," which attracted some little attention, but was soon 
forgotten. 



DIFFICULTIES IN THE WRITINGS OF PAUL. 



81 



— the same doctrines which were but obscurely hinted at 
by the one, being fully developed (the fit time being come), 
and earnestly dwelt on, by the other. The doctrines which 
Jesus preached were suited to the period when the king- 
dom of heaven was only at hand, and were preparatory to 
the fuller manifestation of gospel truth which he revealed to 
the Apostle Paul, when his kingdom was established. 

The attention which a powerful opponent would thus have 
called to a most important subject, too often neglected by the 
advocates of our faith, and the light which would in conse- 
quence have been thrown on the subject, would have been no 
small benefit to the cause of truth. Opposition excites discus- 
sion ; and discussion leads to inquiries which may end in not 
only bringing truth to light, but impressing it forcibly on minds 
which had been sunk in heedless apathy. Next, after an able 
and full and interesting vindication and explanation of Paul's 
writings, the sort of work whose appearance ought most to be 
hailed, is a plausible attack on them; which, indeed, is the 
most likely to call forth the other. His labors can never be 
effectually frustrated, except by being kept out of sight. What- 
ever brings him into notice will, ultimately, bring him into 
triumph. All the malignity and the sophistry of his adversa- 
ries will not only assail him in vain, but will lead, in the end, to 
the perfecting of his glory and the extension of his gospel. 
They may scourge him uncondemned, like the Roman magis- 
trates of Philippi, — they may inflict on him the lashes of calum- 
nious censure, — but they cannot silence him. They may thrust 
him as it were into a dungeon, and fetter him with their strained 
interpretations ; but his voice will be raised even at the mid- 
night of unchristian darkness, and will be heard effectually. 
His prison-doors will burst open as with an earthquake, and 
the fetters will fall from his hands ; and even strangers to 
gospel truth will fall down at the feet of him, even Paul, 



82 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



to make that momentous inquiry, "What shall I do to be 
saved?" 

May God " grant [as the prayer of our church expresses it] 
that, as the light of the gospel has been caused to shine through 
the preaching of that blessed apostle, we, having his wonderful 
conversion in remembrance, may show forth our thankfulness 
for the same, by following the holy doctrines which he taught, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord." 



ESSAY III. 



ON ELECTION. 



We learn from the most undeniable authority, that the writ- 
ings of the blessed Apostle Paul contain some importance of ex- 
" things hard to be understood which they that plaining those parts 

^ •'of Scripture espe- 

are unlearned and unstable wrest, as well as the ^iaiiy, from which 

dangerous conse- 

other Scriptures, to their own destruction.'' Now quenceshave been 

drawn. 

as it is evidently of the highest importance to 
guard against such a danger, so it is not less evident (as has 
been formerly remarked) that this is not to be done by keep- 
ing in the background these epistles, and withdrawing, or 
encouraging Christians to withhold, attention from them ; not 
only because it is neither wise nor pious to neglect the instruc- 
tions of one who "received not his doctrine from men, but by 
inspiration of Jesus Christ, " but also because the very errors 
in question will be the more easily propagated by such as appeal 
to him in support of them, in proportion as they are allowed 
to make this appeal uncontradicted, — if, while we admit the 
divine authority of these works, we leave them chiefly in the 
hands of extravagant fanatics, to put their own interpretation 
on passages of which their hearers shall have been taught no 
bett/cr explanation. The Christian instruction, in short, to be 
derived from a right interpretation of this apostle's works, and 
the mischief resulting from a misinterpretation of them, furnish, 
each, a most powerful reason for the attentive study of them. 



84: WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 

I propose, accordingly, to suggest some principles which 
should be kept in mind by one who would rightly understand 
this portion of Scripture, — principles, the neglect of which has 
given occasion to most of the errors into which " the unlearned 
and unstable " have fallen, 

§ I. It is evident that, in order to understand any author 
thoroughly, it is highly desirable, if not indis- 

In order to un- 11.1 • i i • t • 1 

derstand the Apos- pcusablc, to 06 acquaiutcd, lu somc degree, with 
IhouML^acquail- charactcr, the circumstances in which he was 
ted with his char- placed, and his habitual modes of thought thence 

acter and situation, x / o 

and with that of his rcsultiug. Nor will this be sufficient, unless we 

hearers. 

have something of the same knowledge respect- 
ing the persons to whom he wrote. And the more remote any 
work is, in point of time or of place, from ourselves, the more 
diligent attention will be required in the reader, not only to 
ascertain these circumstances, but to keep them steadily and 
constantly in view. Many things have an obvious reference 
to particular persons, times, and places, and cannot be at all 
understood without taking these into consideration. When 
Moses, for instance, or the other sacred writers, speak of places 
" beyond Jordan," or " on this side of Jordan," every one per- 
ceives the necessity of considering the local situation of the 
author ; but many other circumstances, not at all less essential 
to the right understanding of what is said, are apt to escape 
the notice of one whose attention is not steadily directed to 
the application of the principle laid down. 

Now no one is ignorant that Paul was not only a Jew, but 
one strictly educated in the principles of the most learned and 
most rigid sect among the Jews ; but this circumstance is not 
always practically kept in mind so much as it ought to be. 
No one who reads his works ought to lose sight of it for a 
moment, but constantly to bear in mind what habits of thought 



ON ELECTION. 



85 



and modes of expression would be natural to a Jew, and to a 
Jew of that description. 

Inspired, indeed, he was, with the knowledge of the gospel ; 
Jewish errors and prejudices were corrected in him by the 
Spirit of truth ; but we have no reason to suppose that this 
inspiration would go any further than was requisite to qualify 
him for his ministry, — that anything 65 errors and preju- 
dices would be altered. 

If any one should imagine that, because one and the same 
Spirit taught one and the same gospel to all its appointed min- 
isters, therefore every distinction between them was done 
away, all traces of individual character necessarily swallowed 
up in one common revelation, an attentive study of the sacred 
writers will soon convince him of his mistake. Even of the 
apostles, who were all of them Jews, no two write precisely 
alike : the variations of individual character are perceptible, 
even when in national character they all agree.^ 

The Apostle Paul's writings, then, must be studied as those 
of a man not only acquainted with the Scriptures of the Old 
Testament, but familiar with them from childhood ; full of an 
early-implanted and habitual reverence for them ; and disposed 
to refer to them for argument and for illustration on every 
possible occasion. He was likely, in short, to write as a learned 
and zealous Jew, in every point except those in which the 
teaching of the Spirit led him to correct his former notions. 
And this divine monitor, it should be recollected, was so far 
from instructing Christian ministers to keep the Old Testa- 
ment out of sight, that there is no point more strenuously and 
uniformly insisted on than the connection of the Old and New 
dispensations. Christianity is invariably represented, not as a 
new religion, but as the completion of a scheme long before 

1 On this point I have treated more at large in the Bampton Lectures. Lect. 
iv. pp. 124-128. 

8 



86 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



begun ; it was plainly meant to be engrafted, not on natural 
religion, but on Judaism. If this circumstance had been duly 
attended to, many of the heresies which have corrupted our 
religion would have been avoided. 

But what were the character and situation of this apostle's 
hearers ? He was, indeed, more especially the Apostle of the 
Gentiles ; but he appears, wherever he went, to have addressed 
himself first to his own countrymen, — his natural feelings of 
warm attachment and partiality towards them being not at all 
forbidden by his heavenly Guide, who, on the contrary, designed 
that the Jews should have this precedence. The promises and 
threats of the gospel were to be declared " to the Jew first, and 
also to the Greek." " It was necessary^'^ says he, " that the 
word of God should first have been spoken to you ; but seeing 
ye put it from you, lo ! we turn to the Gentiles." It is prob- 
able, indeed, that the number of Paul's converts among his own 
brethren was, in most places, but a small proportion ; though 
in some of the churches it appears, from several circumstances, 
that their amount was not inconsiderable ; and in every church 
it is probable that Jews and " devout Greeks " (that is, such as 
had before renounced idolatry, and acknowledged the divine 
origin of the Jewish religion) were to be found among the 
members, and among the earliest members. 

In those places, however, in which the great majority of the 
Christian brethren were converted Gentiles, it might have been 
supposed that the Old Testament would have been but little 
studied or thought of. So far, however, was this from being 
the case ; so far was Paul from allowing the Jewish Scriptures 
— those Holy Scriptures which he represents as " able to make 
us wise unto salvation" — to be depreciated, or the Christian 
revelation to be regarded as any other than a completion of the 
Mosaic, that he seems to have expected, in all his converts, an 
intimate acquaintance with the Old Testament ; and to have 



ON ELECTION. 



87 



earnestly, and not unsuccessfully, inculcated the necessity of 
interpreting the one scheme by the other, as two parts of the 
same great whole, and of considering " whatsoever things were 
written aforetime " as " written for their learnino;." On the 
Corinthian church, for instance, he impresses this principle as 
of high importance ; and though but a small proportion of them 
probably were Jews, he evidently implies that they were not 
on that account the less interested in all the concerns of the 
Jewish church, whose successor was the Christian: "For^I 
would not have you ignorant," says he, "how that all our 
fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea ; 
and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 

But with many of them God was not well pleased ; for 

they were overthrown in the wilderness." And after touching 
on several points in the history of the church of Israel, he 
assures the Corinthians that " these things happened unto them 
for ensamples ; and they are written for our admonition, upon 
whom the ends of the world are come ; " that is, who live under 
the last dispensation of God ; which is not, like the Mosaic, to 
be succeeded by any other, but will last to the end of the 
world. 

The passage just mentioned is only one out of many in which 
the apostle adverts to the Scriptures of the Old His continual 
Testament as of high importance to be studied SoTa^r^ilpenla- 
by Christians. And the frequent allusions he t^on which was the 

shadow of the gos- 

makes to them as familiar to his hearers, and of p^^- 
acknowledged value in their eyes, convey his judgment on the 
subject far more strongly than so many direct admonitions : 
they indicate what was the early, the habitual, and the univer- 
sal mode of instruction employed by himself and all the Chris- 
tian teachers. No Christian, therefore, who would copy the 

1 1 have here followed the reading of the best MSS., which greatly clears the 
sense. 



88 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



pattern of this divine Teacher, will leave the Old Testament 
out of sight ; but will learn from him that the former dispen- 
sation must be carefully attended to by one who would rightly 
understand the gospel. 

And attention to the same pattern may also serve to guard 
us against another error, in some respects the opposite of that 
just alluded to, — the confounding together of the two systems 
in one confused medley, and blending the law, which had " a 
shadow of good things to come," with the gospel, which is the 
fulfilment of it ; an error not uncommon with those who un- 
thinkingly study the Bible as one book, without taking pains 
to discriminate the several parts of the great scheme of Prov- 
idence it relates to. The two dispensations correspond in 
almost every point, but coincide in very few. Like the flower 
and fruit of any plant, the one is a preparation for the other ; 
and each of its parts bears some relation to the other, though 
they have but a faint resemblance, — the parts which are the 
most prominent and striking in each, respectively, being least 
so in the other ; so that if any one were to give a representa- 
tion in which the parts of the blossom and of the perfect fruit 
were confusedly combined and intermingled, it would be an 
unnatural anomaly, very unlike either the one or the other. 
The example of the apostle's teaching furnishes, as I have 
said, a safeguard against this error: he all along represents 
the law as connected with the gospel, as the shadow with the 
substance, as " our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ ; " 
and the condition of the Israelites as analogous to that of Chris- 
tians, but in many points dissimilar. 

In several instances, indeed, this correspondence and this 
difference are pretty generally perceived and acknowledged. 
That the paschal lamb, for instance, and the other Jewish sac- 
rifices, were typical of the atoning sacrifice of the true Lamb 
of God, — the sin-oflferings and other outward rites of purifica- 



ON ELECTION. 



89 



tion having the same relation to ceremonial offences, and exter- 
nal legal justification from them, that the offering of our Lord 
has to the wiping away of moral guilt, and the inward sanc- 
tification of the heart, — this is a point on which few professed 
Christians are ignorant or doubtful ; the correspondence, and, 
at the same time, dissimilarity, having been explicitly stated, 
in the Epistle to the Hebrews : " If the blood of bulls and 
of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, 
sanctifieth to the purifying of the fiesh, how much more 
shall the blood of Christ, who, through the Eternal Spirit, of- 
fered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience 
from dead works to serve the living God ? " That the prom- 
ised land of Canaan, again, — the place of rest to which Jesus 
(Joshua) conducted the Israelites, — is a type of the heavenly 
rest to which our Jesus is ready to lead his followers, is under- 
stood and admitted by most Christians. That the sanction of 
extraordinary temporal blessings and judgments, both national 
and individual, under which the Jews lived, is withdrawn, and 
succeeded by " the bringing in of a better hope " than that of 
the law, is a truth not so well understood by many Christians. 
There is a leaning in the minds of not a few to an expectation 
of that inevitable vengeance in this world on the wicked which 
was denounced under the Mosaic law ; and of that temporal 
prosperity, as the reward of obedience, which forms no part 
of the promises of a religion whose Founder was crucified, and 
whose apostles were, " if in this life only they had hope of 
Christ, of all men most miserable." 

The better-instructed part, however, of the Christian world, 
perceive the distinction in this point between the Old and New 
dispensations ; and understand that the promises and threats of 
the one are applicable, figuratively only, to the other, — the 
rewards and punishments of a future life being substituted for 
those of the present. 

8* 



90 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



There are many other points, however, which are frequently 
overlooked, in which the correspondence between the two sys- 
tems is such as to make the former a most useful interpreter of 
the latter. And when we consider what a familiar acquaintance 
with the law, and with the history of the Jews, Paul had him- 
self, and expected in his hearers, we cannot doubt that this 
interpreter must be perpetually consulted, if w^e would rightly 
understand his epistles. 

§ II. One only of the cases to which this principle may be 
Disputes relative applied will bc noticcd in the present Essay. A 
to Election. qucstiou, which is one of the most momentous 

ever agitated among Christians, may be, I think, completely 
set at rest by such a mode of consulting the Old Testament as 
has been recommended. The question I allude to, is that relat- 
ing to such as are called by this apostle, and by the rest, the 
" elect " or " chosen people " of God, " called out of the world 
[to be] saints," ^ and inheritors of eternal life, by God's favor, 
or grace through Christ. It is known that differences of no 
trifling moment exist among Christians in their opinions on this 
subject. Some maintain, as is well known, tliat there are 
among the members of Christ's visible church two classes of per- 
sons, the elect and the non-elect, who are both fixed upon arbi- 
trarily by God's eternal, immutable, unconditional decree; 
that those who are the elect, the " called [to be] saints," are 
regenerate, and made sons of God by his Spirit, — are justi- 
fied in his sight through the merits of Christ, — are sanctified 
and led in the paths of Christian holiness by the influence of 
divine grace, and are infallibly conducted to eternal happiness 
in heaven ; and that others, on the contrary, that is, all others, 
though baptized into the faith, and though they have heard the 



1 The words enclosed in brackets have nothing corresponding to them in the 
original. See Sermon on Christian Saints. 



ON ELECTION. 



91 



offers of the gospel, are nevertheless non-elect, or " reprobate," 
passed by, and rejected by God ; and consequently are no less 
certainly doomed to everlasting perdition.^ 

This account of the gospel scheme is utterly displeasing to 
others, who maintain that the election in question is not arbi- 
trary^ but has respect to men's foreseen faith and ohedience 
that is, that God decrees to elect such as he foresees will be 
obedient to his commands, and passes by those whose disobe- 
dience he foresees. 

No candid and well-informed student of Scripture can, I 
think, deny that arguments in support of each of these opposite 
doctrines have been alleged which have at least some degree 
of plausibility at first sight.^ 

1 See Note A, at the end of this Essay. 

2 " Elect, according to the foreknowledge of God," is an expression some- 
times appealed to in support of this view, but (as will plainly appear to any one 
who studies the context) not correctly. The apostle's design in employing it will 
be found, on attentive inquiry, to be this: It was a stumbling-block to the Jews, 
even to those who acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, that the Gentiles should 
be admitted to equal privileges with themselves. The Israelites, they pleaded, had 
been declared to be God's peculiar and highly-favored people : was it to be sup- 
posed that he would alter his plans? No, said the apostle, there is no change 
in his plans ; but he all along designed (and he cites the prophets to prove his 
assertion) to admit, at a future time, such of the Gentiles as would hear his call 
into the number of his people. This, indeed, was formerly a secret not under- 
stood by our forefathers, and now for the first time " made manifest''^ to men; 
but the design always existed "that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs; " the 
mystery (that is, the doctrine first hidden, and afterwards revealed, which is the 
usual sense of the word mystery) of their election, was, of course, always Tcnown 
to God himself, though but lately revealed to us. They are " elect according to 
the forelcnowledge of Go^.'''' 

3 So widely spread apart are these two schemes of interpretation, that I have 
known a reviewer, very recently, allude to a certain author as " an Arminian, " 
though he had written his dissent from the Arminian theory, and his rea- 
sons for it. The reviewer, on having this blunder pointed out, apologized by 
saying that he had merely concluded him to be Arminian because he was not 
Calvinist; and he had supposed that every one must be either the one or the 
other! It is remarkable that, by a converse error, the very same author had been, 
some years before, denounced as Calvinistic, on the ground that he was not 
Arminian ! 



92 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



In support of the latter system, are urged the declarations 
in Scripture that " Christ died for all," that " he willeth all 
men to be saved/' etc., as well as the general tenor of the gos- 
pel offers of salvation, which seem to leave all that heard them 
at full liberty to accept or reject them. On the other side, the 
expressions of Paul especially are urged, where he speaks of 
men as " clay in the hands of the potter," who has power to 
make, " of the same lump, vessels to honor and to dishonor/' ^ 
and who speaks of the call to salvation as originating entirely 
in the free bounty of God, without reference to good works of 
ours either previous or subsequent. God hath chosen us, says 
Calvin, — non quia eramus, sed ut essemus sancti," — not 
because we were, nor because he foresaw that we should be, 
but (according to Paul) in order that we might be holy in all 
good works. 

It would be tedious and unnecessary to cite all the texts 
that have been appealed to by both parties on this question, 
and the arguments grounded on them. Suffice it to observe, 
that they are generally opposed by other arguments and other 
texts ; and that each party has generally succeeded better in 
this, than in refuting and explaining those adduced by their 
opponents. In particular, the explanations given by the oppo- 
nents of the Cavanistic scheme, of the passages urged in favor 
of it, appear to some even of themselves (I will not say unsat- 
isfactory, but) so far incapable of being satisfactorily laid before 
the mass of ordinary Christians, that they are often disposed to 
apprehend danger from the study of Paul's epistles, and rather 
to draw the attention of their flocks to other parts of Scripture 
in preference. 

I cannot but think that an attentive examination of the Old 
Testament will go far towards furnishing a key to the true 
meaning of Paul's and the other apostolic epistles; and will 

1 For a remark on this passage, see § III. of this Essay. 



ON ELECTION. 



93 



furnish an answer not only satisfactory, but capable of being 
made clear to the unlearned, of the three great questions on 
which the whole discussion turns ; namely, first. Whether the di- 
vine election, as spoken of in Scripture, is there represented as 
ARBITRARY, or as having respect to men's foreseen conduct ? sec- 
ondly, Who are to be regarded as the elect ? and, thirdly. In 
VTHAT does that election consist ? 

In treating of these questions, it should be premised that I 
design, in the first instance, to look exclusively to the testimony 
of Scripture — waiving wholly, at present, the abstract questions 
respecting fate and free-will, which belong more properly to 
the province of natural religion or of metaphysics ; and also, 
that my examination of Scripture will be confined to the light 
thrown generally on the gospel scheme by the Books of Moses. 
The Christian church being confessedly the successor of the 
Jewish, and the Christian dispensation of the Mosaic, nothing 
can be more reasonable than to aid our judgment respecting 
the one by contemplating the other. 

§ III. Now, with respect to the first question before us, Were 
the Israelites, who were evidently God's called, ^ 

^ ^ J Questions wheth- 

elect, or chosen, holy, and peculiar people, — "^^^^^^r the for- 
mer dispensation, 

were they, I say, thus chosen, arbitrarily, or election was arbi- 
not ? This question seems to admit of a speedy ^ ^* 
and complete decision. Moses clearly and repeatedly states 
that this selection of them was arbitrary. He often reminds 
them that they were not thus singled out from the midst of 
other nations for their own righteousness, since they were "a 
stiff-necked people," but of God's free goodness, "who will 
have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and will be gracious 
to whom he will be gracious ; " and " because he had a favor 
unto them." And with respect to their fathers, though Abraham 
indeed was tried and found faithful and obedient, there was 



94 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



certainly an arbitrary choice made of Jacob in preference to 
his elder brother Esau ; which, indeed, is one of the cases 
referred to by the apostle, who remarks, that, " while the 
children were yet in the womb, and had done neither good nor 
evil," it was declared by the oracle of God that 'Hhe elder 
should serve the younger." Nor, again, it should be observed, 
could that selection of the children of Jacob have been 
decreed with reference to their foreseen faith and obedience ; 
since we know how eminently deficient they were in those qual- 
ifications, — stubborn and rebellious, continually falling into 
idolatry and other sins, — forgetting what great things God 
had wrought for them, and undervaluing their high privilege. 

It would, indeed, be most presumptuous to pronounce that 
God had no reasons for his selection of the Israelites. Doubt- 
less he had good reasons for it ; but these are not made known 
to us. As far as our knowledge extends, the choice was arbi- 
trary. 

The divine election, then, under the old dispensation, was, it 
is manifest, entirely arbitrary ; but, in the second 

Who were elected. ' J ' ^ 

place, who were the objects of it ? Evidently, 
the whole nation^ without any exception. They were all 
brought out of Egypt by a mighty hand, and miraculously de- 
livered from their enemies, and received the divine command- 
ments through Moses, who uniformly addressed them — not 
some, but all — as God's chosen, holy, and peculiar people. 
But, lastly, what was the nature of this election of the Israel- 
To what the elect i^cs ? to whut wcrc they thus chosen by their 
were chosen. Almighty Rulcr ? Wcrc they elected absolutely 
and infallibly to enter the promised land, and to triumph over 
their enemies, and to live in security, wealth, and enjoyment ? 
Manifestly not. They were elected to the privilege of having 
these blessings placed within their reach^ on the condition of 
their obeying the law which God had given them ; but those 



ox ELECTION. 



95 



who refused this obedience were not only excluded from the 
promised blessings, but were the objects of God's especial judg- 
ments far beyond those inflicted on the heathen nations, who 
had not been so highly favored, whose idolatry and wickedness 
was, generally speaking, far less uniformly and severely visited. 
" With a mighty hand and with a stretched-out arm, and with 
fury poured out will I rule over you," was the threat de- 
nounced against the disobedient Israelites ; of the fulfilment of 
which numerous instances are recorded in Scripture ; and one 
most striking one is before our eyes, — the forlorn and ruined 
condition, as a nation,^ at the present day, of those who rejected 
the long-promised Messiah, and invoked his blood upon " them- 
selves and on their children.'' Still, however, whether obedient 
or rebellious, they were all of them the peculiar and elect peo- 
ple of God ; because on all of them — on every individual, 
without exception, of that people — the privileges were be- 
stowed, and to every one of them the offer made, of God's es- 
pecial blessing and protection, on condition of their conforming 
to the commands he had condescended to give them. But 
whether they would thus conform or not, was all along studi- 
ously represented by Moses as a matter entirely dependent on 
themselves. " Behold," says he, " I have set before you this 
day good and evil, blessing and cursing ; now, therefore, choose 
blessing." 

The election, then, of the Jews was arbitrary indeed ; but it 
was an election, not to blessing, absolutely, but to a 'privilege 
and advantage^ — to the offer and opportunity of obtaining a 
peculiar blessing, such as was not placed within the reach of 
other nations. Whether they would accept the offer, or draw 
down God's curse on them by their disobedience, rested with 
themselves. And that they were left at liberty to pursue this 
latter course is plain, from this most remarkable circumstance — 

1 1 have enlarged on this subject in the Discourse on National Blessings and 
Judgments. 



96 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



that of all the adult individuals^ of them who came out of 
Egypt, and heard the law delivered from Mount Sinai, two only 
(besides the Levites) reached the promised land. Of the rest, 
the whole generation were cut off in the wilderness for their 
disobedience. 

Now, to apply these observations to the gospel dispensation, 
it is plain, as has been said, that the Christian 

Application, by 

analogy, to the gos- church stauds in the place of the Jewish, — that it 

pel scheme. 

succeeds it in the divine favor, and enjoys, not 
the same indeed, but corresponding benefits and privileges. 
It is reasonable, therefore, to suppose, that since both dispen- 
sations are parts of the one plan of the one heavenly Author, 
those benefits and privileges should be bestowed according to 
a similar system in each. The Christian religion, however, is 
not, like the Jewish, confined to one nation, nor the Christian 
worship to one place, like the temple at Jerusalem. The 
church of Christ is open to all to whom the gospel has been 
announced, and comprehends all who acknowledge it. The in- 
vitations of that gospel are general ; all members of that church 
are " called and elected " by God, and are as truly his people, 
and under his especial government, as the Israelites ever 
were.^ And though they do not consist of any one nation in 
particular, they are arbitrarily selected and called to this priv- 
ilege, out of the rest of the world, and in contradistinction from 
their unenlightened ancestors, according to God's unsearchable 
will, for reasons known to him alone, no less than the Israelites 
were of old. Some nations, we know, had the gospel preached 

1 Exclusive however, it appears, of the tribe of Levi. 

2 It is very remarkable that the apostles never themselves applied to their con- 
verts the title of " Christians." They preferred cf^Jling them by titles which 
had long been known as designating God s peculiar people of old ^ — the Israelites 
after the flesh; such as "saints," "brethren," "elect" or "chosen," etc., in 
order, no doubt, to point out that the gospel was a sequel to the Mosaic dispen- 
sation, and that the believers, of all races, were become by adoption "the Is- 
rael of God. ' See Sermon on Christian Saints. 



ON" ELECTIOiSr. 



97 



to them long before others : the apostles were directed by the 
Holy Ghost what countries they should first visit and enlighten 
by there ministry ; and many there are that remain in igno- 
rance of Christianity to this day. 

We can give no account of this distinction, but that such 
is God's pleasure. No reason that we know of can be as- 
signed why we ourselves, for instance, in this country, should 
have received the light of the gospel, while many other regions 
of the earth remain in the darkness of idolatry. The " calling " 
and selection of us and of other Christians to the knowledge of 
the true God, seems as arbitrary as that of the Israelites. 
And as this promise belonged not to some only, but to every 
one, of that nation, whether he chose to avail himself of it or 
to convert it into a heavy curse by his neglect of it, so we 
may conclude that every Christian is called and elected to the 
Christian privileges, just as every Jew was to his ; but that it 
rests with us to use or abuse the advantage.^ The Jews were 
not chosen to enjoy God's favor and to enter into the promised 
land absolutely^ but to have the offer of that favor, and the 
promise of that land, on condition of their obedience ; and as 
many as were rebellious, perished in the wilderness. So, also, 
we may conclude, no Christian is elected to eternal salvation 
absolutely ; but only to the knowledge of the gospel, to the 
privileges of the Christian church, to the offer of God's Holy 
Spirit, and to the promise of final salvation, on condition of 
being a faithful follower of Christ. 

Such, I say, we might antecedently conjecture, must be the 
right interpretation of the apostle's lan^uao-e, 

^ ^ o O ' Confirmed by 

considering how constantly and how clearly all Paul's express au- 

. thority, and by the 

the circumstances of the old dispensation must analogy of God's 

i_ T T , general providence- 

be supposed to have been before ms mmd. 

But in the instance now before us we are not left to conjecture : 



9 



1 See the last Essay in this volume. 



98 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



he himself draws the parallel for us, and strongly directs our 
attention to it ; reminding us, in the most distinct manner, of 
the principles by which we are to be guided in our examina- 
tion of the gospel scheme. He not only always addresses his 
converts (the very persons whom he all along congratulates as 
the called, and favored, and elect of God) as if it depended on 
themselves to avail themselves, or not, of these offers, to " lay 
hold on eternal life," or to forfeit it by their own neglect, but 
he also warns them, from the very example of the Israelites, 
against the error of misunderstanding what it was to which 
they were elected. For some of them, it is probable, having 
been always addressed as the " chosen " of God, were disposed 
to indulge in careless security, relying on their baptismal 
privileges, and confident of final salvation independent of such 
exertions as can alone justify that confidence ; even as the Jews 
" thought to say within themselves, We are Abraham's chil- 
dren." 

The apostle, accordingly, himself expressly points out the 
correspondence between their case and that of the children of 
Israel ; exhorting them to take warning from the backslidings 
and punishment of their predecessors, God's favored people 
of old. The reference which he makes to the case of the 
Israelites follows immediately his illustration from the Isth- 
mian games, and is a portion of the same exhortation. The 
division between the ninth and tenth chapters (and many 
readers are apt practically to forget that these divisions are 
not the work of the sacred writers, but were made many ages 
after, for convenience of reference) is in this place unfortunate, 
as breaking the continuity of the discourse. Having described 
himself as "running," and "fighting," and "keeping his body in 
subjection," in order to win " an incorruptible crown," and hav- 
ing exhorted the Corinthians, from his own example, to do the 
same, he adds, ''For I would not that ye should be ignorant," 



ON ELECTTOlSr. 



99 



etc.^ And he proceeds to point out to them, first, that it was 
not a part only, but the lohole of the Israelites who were thus 
favored : All our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed 
through the sea, and were all baptized unto Moses in the 
cloud and in the sea." But, notwithstanding this, as he pro- 
ceeds to point out, " with many [most]^ of them God was not 
well pleased ; for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 
Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should 
not lust after evil things as they also lusted ; neither be ye 

idolaters, as were some of them ; neither let us commit 

fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day 
three-and-twenty thousand ; neither let us tempt Christ, as 
some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents ; 
neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were 
destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things," he adds, 
" happened unto them for ensamples ; and they are written 
for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are 
come ; " and thence he deduces the great general conclusion, 
" Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he 
fall." Let not the Christian, that is, though he is one of God's 
peculiar and favored people, as the Israelites were of old, flatter 
himself that he is chosen, any more than they were, to the ab- 
solute attainment of a final blessing, but only to the offer of it, 
together with the privileges and advantages which will enable 
him to attain it ; let him not doubt that the option is left to 
him, as it was to them, of securing, or forfeiting, his ultimate 
reward ; let him learn, from the example of the Israelites, that 
neither his promised inheritance is infallibly secured to him 
without obedience, nor he himself absolutely secured in the 

1 This is according to the reading of the best MSS., and of that very ancient 
version the Latin Vulgate. And I believe all critics are now agreed that the 
right reading is not 5e but 70/?. 

2 TOLS T^X^toffiv, 



100 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



requisite obedience, without any watchfulness on his part ; 
since the far greater portion of those whom God brought out 
of Egjpt never reached the promised land.^ 

It is worth remembering, that the system just described is 
the same with that pursued in the ordinary course of God's 
providence also ; a man's being born, for instance, heir to great 
wealth, to high rank or to a kingdom, of a healthy constitution 
or of superior abilities, does not depend on himself; but it does 
depend on himself whether such advantages as these shall prove 
a blessing to him by his making a right use of them, or shall 
aggravate his condemnation through his ill employment or 
neglect of them.^ 

Any one, then, who diligently looks to the analogy both of 
God's ordinary dealings with man and of his former dispensa- 
tion to the Jews, and who carefully interprets the New Testa- 
ment by the Old, will be enabled, I think, to clear up the 
greater part of a difficulty which has furnished matter of dis- 
pute among Christians for many centuries. By contemplating 
the correspondence between the Jewish and the gospel schemes, 
he will clearly perceive that there is no such distinction among 
Christians as the " called " and the uncalled, the " elect " and 
the non-elect ; that the gospel itself is a call to all who have 
heard it, and that those who, instead of obeying it, wait for any 
further call, are deluded by the father of lies, who is watching 
for their destruction. He will perceive that, though all who 
are born in a Christian country, and initiated into Christ's 
church, are arbitrarily elected to this invaluable privilege, their 

1 " I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how 
that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterwards 
destroyed them that believed not " { Jude 5). 

2 The view here taken of election some have hastily supposed to be at variance 
with that of Archbishop Sumner in his Apostolic Preaching; while others have, 
no less erroneously, supposed them identical. On this point I have offered a 
remark in the Preface, p. xix. 



ON ELECTION. 



101 



salvation is not arbitrary, but will depend on the use they make 
of their privileges ; those, namely, to which all Christians are 
called, — the knowledge of the gospel, the aids of the Holy 
Spirit, and the oifer of eternal life, — privileges of which all are 
exhorted, but none compelled, to make a right use, and which 
will prove ultimately either a blessing or a curse to each, 
according to the use he makes of them. 

"When it is contended, however, that the term " elect," or 
that any other scriptural expression, is to be in- technical uni- 



understood in reference to the particular pas- scripture. 
sages in question, or to the generality ; not as implying that 
no other sense is anywhere admissible, and that if the expla- 
nation given be correct, it must hold good in every passage 
where the word occurs. For instance, when the apostles ad- 
dress their converts universally as the " elect " or " chosen " of 
God, even as the whole nation of Israel were of old his chosen, 
this must be understood of their being chosen out of the whole 
mass of the Gentiles to certain peculiar privileges, unknown to 
successive generations of their ancestors, but of which they 
were called and invited to avail themselves. But our Lord 
applies the word differently in the parables of the laborers of 
the vineyard, and of the marriage feast. The wedding, he tells 
us, was furnished with guests by an indiscriminate collection 
of all that could be found in the highways ; but the guest who 
neglected to put on the wedding garment^ was " cast into the outer 
darkness ; " " for many," he adds, " are called, but few chosen," — 
many, that is, are " called " to the enjoyment of high privileges, 
but few make such a use of the advantage as to be finally cho- 
sen ; not, in this instance (as the word is more commonly em- 
ployed) chosen to 2i privilege merely, but to ultimate reward, — 

^ The g2iYvaffiii provided for him, according to Oriental custom, by the giver of 
the feast. See 2 Kings x. 22. 



terpreted in this or in that sense, this must be 




9^ 



102 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



chosen as having rightly availed themselves of that privilege, — 
selected from among the faithless and disobedient to "enter 
into the joy of their Lord." Not that in these cases the word 
" chosen " is used in different meanings^ but that its application 
is different ; both parties are, in the same sense, " chosen," 
but the things to which they are chosen are different, and there 
is a corresponding difference in the principles on which the 
choice is conducted.-^ 

There is, indeed, no more fruitful source of error in this, and 
in many other points, than the practice of interpreting Scrip- 
ture on the principles of a scientific system^ and endeavoring to 
make out, as in mathematics, a complete technical vocabulary, 
with precise definitions of all the terms employed, such as may 
be applied in every case where they occur.^ Nothing, mani- 
festly, was further from the design of the sacred writers than 
to frame any such system : their writings were popular, not 
scientific ; they expressed their meaning, on each occasion, in 
the terms which, on each occasion, suggested themselves as 
best fitted to convey it ; and he who would interpret rightly 
each of these terms, must interpret it in each passage accord- 
ing to the context of the place where it is found. And wher- 
ever the term "elect" relates (as it does in most instances) to an 
arbitrary, irrespective, unconditional decree, it will, I think, be 
found invariably to bear the sense in which I have explained it. 

That a doctrine, therefore, so opposite to the one here laid 
Misinterpretations dowu, should havc bccn dcduccd from the 
dL!d 'brantece- ScHpturcs by many ingenious and diligent stu- 
dent bias. dents of them, one can hardly avoid attributing, 
in some degree, to their entering on the study with a strong 
antecedent bias in favor of the conclusion they draw, — in conse- 
quence of their regarding it as a truth abstractedly demonstra- 

1 See Elements of Logic. Fallacies, ch. iii. § X. 

2 See Essay VI. § iv. and VII. § II. 



ON ELECTION. 



103 



ble by reason. But for such bias we should hardly find so 
many passages of Scripture interpreted so hastily, and often so 
much wrested fj'om their obvious sense, to make them afford 
confirmation of the favorite hypothesis. 

For instance, the scriptural similitude of the potter and the 
clay is often triumphantly appealed to as a proof that God has 
from eternity decreed, and, what is more, has revealed to us 
that he has so decreed, the salvation or perdition of each indi- 
vidual, without any other reason assigned than that such is his 
will and pleasure. " We are in his hands," say these predes- 
tinarians, " as clay in the potter's, who hath power, of the same 
lump, to make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor," — • 
not observing, in their hasty eagerness to seize on every ap- 
parent confirmation of their system, that this similitude, as far 
as it goes, rather makes against them ; since the potter never 
makes any vessel for the express purpose of being broken and 
destroyed. This comparison, accordingly, agrees much better 
with the view here taken : the potter, according to his own 
arbitrary choice, makes " of the same lump one vessel to honor 
and another to dishonor ; " that is, some to nobler and some 
to meaner uses ; but all for some use, — none with design that 
it should be cast away and dashed to pieces. Even so the 
Almighty, of his own arbitrary choice, causes some to be born 
to wealth or rank, others to poverty and obscurity ; some in a 
heathen, and others in a Christian country. The advantages 
and privileges bestowed on each are various, and, as far as we 
can see, arbitrarily dispensed ; the final rewards or punish- 
ments depend, as we are plainly taught, on the use or abuse 
of those ad vantages. Wealth and power, and Christian knowl- 
edge, and all other advantages, may be made either a blessing 
or a curse to the possessor ; since they plainly answer to the 
talents in our Lord's parable. Why one servant had five tal- 
ents intrusted to him, another two, and another one — in what 



104 



WHATELTS ESSAYS. 



consisted " their several abilities " — we are not told ; though we 
are clearly taught that the distribution was not made on the 
ground of the foreseen use they would make of the talents ; else 
he who received the one, and kept it laid up in a napkin, 
would not have been intrusted with any. But we are plainly 
told on what principles all these servants were ultimately 
judged by their Master, — those who had received the five, and 
the two talents, w^ere rewarded, not from arbitrary choice, but 
because they had rightly employed the deposit ; and the un- 
profitable servant was punished, not because he had only re- 
ceived one, but because he had let it lie idle.^ 

The " hardening of Pharaoh's heart," again, which is men- 
tioned in Scripture, is often triumphantly appealed to as a 
recorded instance in which, according to the hasty interpreta- 
tion sometimes adopted, God made the King of Egypt what 
we call hard-hearted, — that is, cruel and re?norseless, • — on 
purpose to disply his almighty power upon him ; whereas a 
very moderate attention to the context would plainly evince 
that this (whether true or false) is very far from being revealed 
in Scripture ; but that, on the contrary, the " hardening " (or, as 
some translate, the "strengthening") of Pharaoh's heart^ must 
mean a judicial blindness of intellect as to his own interest^, and 

1 Those who profess to maintain the doctrine of absolute election, and not of 
reprobation, seem to forget that (besides the other difficulties they are exposed 
to) the passages adduced in favor of the one, and of the other, are equally strong, 
and occur, usually, both together; so that it seems unreasonable to interpret 
the one on one principle, and the other on a different one. For example, " Jacob 
have I loved, and Esau Jiave Ihafed.^\ ..." One vessel to honor, and another to 
dishonor.''' .... He " will have mercy on whom he will have mercy," and 
" Whom He will He hardeneth,''^ etc. 

2 The "heart" is continually employed by the sacred writers to denote the 
understanding ; as when our Lord is said to " upbraid the disciples for their un- 
belief and hardness ofheart^^^ etc. They never, I believe, employed crKX-qpoKap- 
5ta to signify cruelty. The same appears to have been anciently the usage of 
our own language also; of which we retain a remnant in the expression of 
*' learning anything by heart.^^ 



ON ELECTION. 



105 



a vain and absurd self-confidence, which induced him to hold 
out against Omnipotence. For, it is remarkable that the 
cruelties he had practised had all of them taken place he fore 
any mention is made of God's hardening his heart. The 
tyrant who had subjected to grievous slavery, and attempted 
to extirpate, the Israelites, could scarcely, after that, be made 
cruel ; but the most unrelenting oppressor would have let them 
go, through mere selfish prudence, had he not been supernat- 
urally infatuated, when he saw that they were " a snare unto 
him," and that "Egypt was destroyed" through the mighty 
plagues inflicted on their account. 

To sum up, then, in a single sentence, the error which ap- 
pears to me to have originated from a neglect 

*■ Errors in reason- 

of the lesson w^hich the Old Testament may ing committed on 

both sides. 

supply, the doctrine that final salvation is rep- 
resented in Scripture as resting solely on the arbitrary appoint- 
ment of God, is deduced from tw^o premises, — - first, that election 
infallibly implies salvation ; and, secondly, that election is en- 
tirely arbitrary ; whence it follows, certainly, that final salvation 
is arbitrary. Now many of the opponents of this conclusion 
are accustomed to deny the true premise, and admit the false 
one ; acknowledging that election everywhere necessarily im- 
plies ultimate salvation, but contending that it is not arbitrary, 
but depends on foreseen faith and obedience, — a position which 
gives their opponents a decided advantage over them, and 
which the analogy of the old dispensation to the new may 
convince us is untenable : whereas, in denying that election 
does necessarily imply salvation, they would find the whole 
analogy of the Old Testament, and the general tenor of the 
Apostle Paul's admonitions, so completely in their favor that 
the offensive conclusions would be, as far as Scripture testimony 
goes, irrecoverably overthrown ; and it would be seen that the 
abstract metaphysical questions respecting fate and free-will 



106 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



are left by the Bible exactly where it finds them, — undecided 
and untouched. 

§ IV. Without entering at large on the metaphysical ques- 
Metaphysicai dit- tions just alludcd to, One remark respecting them 
^'J^:^ will not be irrelevant, as it may throw light on 
Of language. subjcct morc particularly before us. I mean 

that the difficulty and confusion in which such questions 
have been involved, have, in a great degree, arisen from inat- 
tention to the ambiguity of one particular class of words — " pos- 
sible and " impossible," " necessary," " certain," " contingent," 
and many others of corresponding significations to these — which 
have, by their undetected ambiguity, bewildered in a maze of 
fruitless logomachy most of those who have treated of the sub- 
ject. " Certainty," for instance, and " uncertainty," which in 
the primary sense denote the state of our own mind, have thence 
been transferred to the facts and eveiits respecting which we 
are certain or uncertain ; and, ultimately, have come to be 
considered as indicating an intrinsic quality in the events 
themselves, and not merely the relation in which they stand to 
our knowledge or ignorance of them ; and " necessity," as well 
as other words allied to it, whose signification sometimes refers 
to coercion^ or absence of "power ^ sometimes again merely to un- 
doubting and complete knowledge, have led to endless fallacies 
and perplexities when this distinction has been overlooked. 

Thus the " necessity " — that is, the absence of freedom — of 
human actions has by many been inferred from God's certain 
foreknowledge of them. And to this it is not, I think, altogether 
a satisfactory reply, which is often made, that the divine pre- 
science does not fetter or control men's actions, nor in any 
way operate upon them, any more than our knowledge of any 



1 See Logic, Appendix, article Possible. See also Appendix, No. I., to Arch- 
bishop King's Discourse on Predestination. 



ON ELECTION. 



107 



fact is the cause of its being such ; for though this is undenia- 
bly true, it hardly meets the difficulty ; since it is not meant, I 
apprehend, that the divine foreknowledge makes actions neces- 
sary, but that it implies that they are so ; just as any one's 
seeing some object before him implies the real present exis- 
tence of that object ; though no one supposes that his seeing it 
is, in any respect, the cause of its existence. 

But the chief source of this perplexity is the equivocal em- 
ployment of the word " necessity ; " which, in one sense, re- 
lates to knowledge alone, and therefore is, of course, implied by 
prescience ; but in another sense, relates to compulsion, or want 
of power ; which prescience does by no means imply When 
we speak, for instance, of the " necessity " of mathematical 
truths, we mean merely that they admit of no doubt. And 
again, when we say that a man pining in captivity cannot hut 
eagerly embrace the offer of freedom and restoration to his 
country, we mean not that he is thus placed under compulsionj 
but that we are well assured and have no doubt he will do so. 
On the other hand, when we say that, while in captivity, he 
cannot but submit to the will of his master, we mean that he 
wants power to resist and liberty to escape ; and when we 
speak of the necessity of death, we mean that mortals are 
unable to avoid it. 

If this distinction had been duly attended to, it would hardly, 
I think, have been contended that that necessity of our actions 
which the divine prescience implies is at all incompatible 
with our freedom and power to act otherwise. Whether our 
conduct be, in fact, under any restraint or not, at least no 
restraint is implied by the mere foreknowledge of it. Let it 
be supposed (and the case is at least conceivable) that you 
were fully and accurately acquainted with all the inclinations 
of some man who was left at perfect liberty to follow them ; 

1 See Tucker's ''Light of Nature,-' chap. xxyi. 



108 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



you could then as distinctly know and as exactly describe his 
future conduct as any past event ; and the very ground of 
your thus foreseeing and foretelling it would be, not his being 
under restraint, but his entire freedom from it ; for, the knowl- 
edge of his inclination, if he were not free to follow it, would 
not enable you to foresee the event. 

The divine foreknowledge, again, of " contingent " or " un- 
certain " events, would not have been made a matter of such 
mysterious difficulty if it had been remembered that the same 
thing may be contingent and uncertain to one person which is 
not so to another ; since those terms denote no quality in the 
events themselves, any more than the terms " visible and 
" invisible " when applied to eclipses ; inasmuch as that which 
is visible in one part of the world, is invisible in another. For 
the same event may, in like manner, be both a contingency 
and a certainty ; though not to the same person. Any event, 
for instance, which occurred yesterday in some distant part 
of the world, is, to us, uncertain and contingent ; and one who 
calculates on its having taken place in this w^ay or that, would 
be said to run the risk of fortune, though to those on the spot 
there is no contingency in the case. 

Before I dismiss the consideration of this subject, I would 
suggest one caution relative to a class of objections frequently 
urged against the Calvinistic scheme, — those drawn from the 
conclusions of what is called Natural religion, respecting the 
moral attributes of the Deity ; which, it is contended, rendered 
the reprobation of a large portion of mankind an absolute im- 
possibility. That such objections do reduce the predestinarian 
to a great strait, is undeniable ; and not seldom are they urged 
with exulting scorn, with bitter invective, and almost with 
anathema. But we should be very cautious how we employ 
such weapons as may recoil upon ourselves. Arguments of 
this description have often been adduced, such as, I fear, will 



ON ELECTION. 



109 



crush beneath the ruins of the hostile structure the bhnd as- 
sailant who seeks to overthrow it. It is a frightful, but an 
undeniable truth, that multitudes, even in Christian countries, 
are born and brought up under such circumstances as afford 
them no probable, often no possible, chance of obtaining a 
knowledge of religious truths or a habit of moral conduct, but 
are even trained from infancy in superstitious error and gross 
depravity. Why this should be permitted, neither Calvinist 
nor Arminian can explain ; nay, why the Almighty does not 
cause to die in the cradle every infant whose future wicked- 
ness and misery, if suffered to grow up, he foresees, is what no 
system of religion, natural or revealed, will enable us satisfac- 
torily to account for. 

In truth, these are mere branches of the 07ie great difficulty, 
— the existence of evil, — which may almost objections con- 
be called the 07ily difficulty in theoloory. It ^ected with the or- 

^ igin of evil, dan- 

assumes, indeed, various shapes : it is by many gerous for both 

parties. 

hardly recognized as a difficulty, and not a few 
have professed and beHeved themselves to have solved it ; but it 
still meets them, though in some new and disguised form, at 
every turn, — like a resistless stream, which, when one channel 
is damned up, immediately forces its way through another. 
And as the difficulty is not peculiar to any 07ie hypothesis, but 
bears equally on all ahke, whether of revealed or of natural 
religion, it is better, in point of prudence as well as of fairness, 
that the consequences of it should not be pressed as an objec- 
tion against any. The Scriptures do not pretend, as some have 
rashly imagined, to clear up this awful mystery — they give us 
no explanation of the original cause of the evils that exist ; but 
they teach us how to avoid its effects. And since they leave 
this great and perplexing question just where they find it, it is 
better for us to leave it among " the secret things which belong 
unto the Lord our God," and to occupy ourselves with " the 
10 



110 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



things which are revealed," and which concern us practically, 
— which " belong unto us and to our children," — that we may 
" do all the works of God's law." 

And equally to blame are both those who profess to explain, 
where God has not given us revelation, the reasons of his 
dealings with man, and those, again, who insist on it that in 
such and such a case he had no reason at all, but acted as he 
did " to declare his sovereignty," and " for his own glory ; " — 
as if he could literally desire glory ! When the Most High 
has merely revealed to us his will, we have no right to pro- 
nounce that he had no reasons for it except his will because 
he has not made them known to us. Even an earthly king, 
who IB not responsible to any of his subjects for the reasons of 
his commands, may think fit sometimes to issue commands with- 
out explaining his reasons ; and it would be very rash for any 
one to conclude that he had no reason at all, but acted from 
mere caprice. 

So, also, a dutiful child will often have to say, " I do so and 
so because my parents have commanded me ; that is reason 
enough for me." But though this is to the child a very good 
reason for obeying the command, it would be a very bad rea- 
son with the parents for giving that command. And he would 
show his filial veneration and trust, not by taking for granted 
that his parents had no reason for their commands, but, on the 
contrary, by taking for granted that there was a good reason, 
both for acting as they did and for not giving him any expla- 
nation. 

It is therefore no pious humility, but, on the contrary, great 
presumption, for man to pronounce — where Scripture does not 
tell us — either what were the reasons of God's dealings with 
us, or that he had none at all. One who pretends to be so much 
wiser or better informed than the apostles and prophets as to 
tell us what they knew not, or at least were not commissioned 
to make known, must greatly overrate the faculties of man. 



ON ELECTION". 



Ill 



We, indeed, are exhorted, and very rightly, to " do all for 
the glory of God." It is of advantage to man that our Hea- 
venly Father should be glorified ; but to attribute this, as a 
motive, to him^ and to suppose that he can covet glory for his 
own sake, is an idea most absurd and most degrading. 

And a truly humble-minded Christian, if asked to explain 
why any evil at all is permitted to exist, will answer that this 
is a question beyond man's natural powers, and on which 
Scripture gives us no revelation ; but he would add, that though 
the Scriptures do not tell us what is the cause of evil, they do 
teach us — which is no small matter — what is not the cause. 
That it cannot be from ill-will, or indifference, or caprice, on 
the part of the Most High, is proved by the sufferings under- 
gone by his Beloved One, "in whom he was well pleased." 

If such a Christian be asked to prove that it is untrue that 
God inflicts evil — as some have dared to maintain — " for no 
came at all, but that such is his will," and that it is for the 
" setting forth of his glory," and the assertion " of his sover- 
eignty," — if asked this, he might reply that it is fully disproved 
by the Son of God having been himself " made perfect through 
suffering." For, no conceivable being — not even a tyrant — 
would ever, wantonly and through mere caprice, inflict suffer- 
ings on the object of his own strong love. 

Though we know, therefore, that from some cause unknown 
to us evil does exist, we are assured that that cause cannot be 
a deficiency of loving-kindness in the Most High. 

§ V. It is on the above principles, — namely, that the first 
point of inquiry at least ought to be what doctrines The chief object 
are revealed in God's word, and that we ought to \ *° 

' o what truths are re- 

expect that the doctrines so revealed should be, veaied as being rel- 
ative to man and 

not matters of speculative curiosity, but of prac- practically needM. 
Heal importance, such as " belong to us that we may do them," 



112 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



— it is in conformity, I say, with these principles, that 
I have waived the question as to the truth or falsity of the 
Calvinistic doctrine of election : inquiring only whether it is 
revealed. And one of the reasons for deciding that question 
in the negative, is the very circumstance that the doctrine is^ 
if rightly viewed, of a purely speculative character, not " be- 
longing to us " practically ; and which ought not at least, in 
any way, to influence our conduct. 

It has indeed been frequently objected to the Calvanistic 
doctrines, that they lead, if consistently acted upon, to a sin- 
ful, or to a careless, or to an inactive life ; and the inference 
deduced from this alleged tendency has been that they are not 
true. 

This suspicion is probably not grounded entirely on abstract 
reasonings, but partly also on the expressions actually used by 
some eminent predestinarian writers. Augustine, for instance, 
distinctly says that "God works in the hearts of men to incline 
their wills, whithersoever he will, whether it be to good or to 
eviV^ (De Grati aet libero Arbitrio, c. xxi.). Zwingle, again 
(De Providentia Dei, Vol. i. c. 6, p. 366), says that " God in- 
cites the robber to commit murder, and that the man kills his 
victim under a divine impulse." 

Beza says the very same (De Praedest. Op. Vol. iii. p. 231). 
Calvin also expressly declares that " each preparation " (that 
for salvation and that for destruction) " must undoubtedly de- 
pend on the secret counsels of God" (Comm. on Rom. ix. 23), 
and that " because God has willed a man's destruction, the ob- 
stinacy of the man's heart is a divine preparation for his ruin" 
(Calvin, Inst. iv. 3). On the other hand, " the last day," says 
a modern writer, " will bring forward numberless examples of 
salvation where divine grace has gloriously triumphed in the 
conversion of sinners in their last moments^ when the whole life 
has been spent before in hardness and impenitence " (Dr. 



ON ELECTIOK. 



113 



Hawker's Zion's Pilgrim, p. 160). And according to two 
works edited by Mr. Romaine, " As it was not any loveliness 
in elect persons which moved God to love them at first, so, 
neither shall their unlovely backslidings deprive them of it" 
(Coles on God's Sovereignty, p. 294). And, "though a be- 
liever be black as hell, polluted with guilt, defiled with sin, yet 
in Christ he is all fair, without spot ; free from sin, as viewed 
by God in Christ, fully reconciled to him, and standing without 
trespasses before him" (Mason's Spiritual Treas., pp. 141, 142). 

And many more such passages might be cited. All of these 
will admit, no doubt, of some such explanation (in a " non-nat- 
ural sense ") as to be not incompatible with morality. But it 
is surely a culpable rashness to dwell on any doctrines not 
plainly contained in Scripture when they cannot possibly do 
any practical good, and may do harm, being then only innox- 
ious when so explained as to be wholly inoperative. 

And the more purely moral any one is in his own life, — 
the more free from all taint of practical Antinomianism, — the 
greater is the danger to which he will expose many others, if 
he preaches and recommends, by the goodness of his own per- 
sonal character, doctrines of which one interpretation, and that 
the most obvious (though not the one he himself adopts) tends 
to carelessness in moral conduct. He will be like a per- 
son of such a constitution as to be proof against the effects of 
large quantities of opium or of ardent spirits, and who allows 
his example to seduce others of weaker constitution into what 
is, to them, a dangerous excess. 

But the above is a totally distinct line of argument, both in 
premises and conclusion, from that now adverted to ; and I 
mention it, not for the purpose either of maintaining or im- 
pugning it, but merely of pointing out the distinction. What- 
ever may be, in fact, the practical ill-tendency of the Calvinis- 
tic scheme, it is undeniable that many pious and active Chris- 
10=* 



114 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



tians, who have adopted it, have denied any such tendency, — 
have attributed the mischievous consequences drawn, not to 
their doctrines rightly understood, but to the perversion and 
abuse of them, — and have so explained them, to their own 
satisfaction, as to be compatible and consistent with active vir- 
tue.^ Now if, instead of objecting to, we admit the explana- 
tions of this system, which the soundest and most approved of 
its advocates have given, we shall find that, when understood 
as they would have it, it can lead to no practical result what- 
ever. Some Christians, according to them, are eternally en- 
rolled in the book of life, and infallibly ordained to salvation, 
while others are reprobate and absolutely excluded ; but as the 
preacher (they add) has no means of knowing, in the first in- 
stance at least, which persons belong to which class, and since 
those who are thus ordained are to be saved through the 
means God has appointed, the offers and promises and threat- 
enings of the gospel are to be addressed to all alike, as if no 
such distinction existed. The preacher, in short, is to act, in 
all respects, as if the system were not true.^ 

Each individual Christian, again, according to them, though 

1 Some have intimated a suspicion that there is some connection between this 
class of doctrines and persecution ; adducing, among other things, the case of 
the burning of Servetus by Calvin (who does certainly seem to have been, indi- 
vidually, of a stern, overbearing, and intolerant character) and the bitter perse- 
cutions of the Arminians by the Calvinists in Holland. The celebrated English 
Long Parliament, again, in which the Puritans predominated, remonstrated 
strongly with the king against the toleration afforded to Papists and Armin- 
ians, both of whom they were for putting down by force. This is noticed in the 
Life of Oliver Cromwell, by M. Merle d'Aubigne, who, by the way, seems him- 
self to think that the Parliament was nearly right, and that there is not much to 
choose between a Papist and an Arminian. But it should be remembered that, 
at the time of the Reformation, and long after, it was held by almost all denom- 
inations of Christians to be a sacred duty to put down all false doctrine by the 
civil sword. And though this most unchristian principle is now much less prev- 
alent than formerly, it is still far from being extinct. 

2 It has already been observed that even past events may often be, to us, as 
completely " contingent " as future ones, and demand from us a corresponding 



ON ELECTION". 



115 



he is to believe that he either is, or is not, absolutely destined 
to eternal salvation, yet is also to believe, that, if his salvation 
is decreed, his holiness of life is also decreed ; he is to judge 
of his own state by " the fruits of the Spirit " which he brings 
forth. To live in sin, or to relax his virtuous exertions, would 
be an indication of his not being really (though he may flatter 
himself he is) one of the elect. And it may be admitted that 
one who does practically adopt and conform to this explanation 
of the doctrine, will not be in any respect influenced by it. 
When thus explained, it is reduced to a purely speculative 
dogma, barren of all practical results. 

If we could suppose an intelligent and benevolent physician, 
who was ministering to a great number of sick persons, to re- 
ceive from Heaven a communication by an angel informing 
him that of these persons some would recover under his treat- 
ment, while others were, according to the will of Providence, 
so deeply struck with disease that nothing could relieve them, 
and that they would inevitably die, he would probably say 
that this was just the opinion he had himself already formed ; 
but that he should be glad to be informed which of his patients 
belonged to that class, in order that he might bestow all his at- 
tention on the one, and not waste his time and medicines on 
the other. But if he were then told that this was a secret, 
not to be imparted to him, and that he must judge for himself, 
in each ease, as well as he could, who were or were not in a 
perfectly hopeless state, it is plain he would be left just where 
he was before, and would have received as a revelation an an- 
nouncement which revealed^ to all practical purposes, nothing 
at all. 

procedure. A general, for instance, may be fully assured of a hostile force hav- 
ing landed either in one or the other of two places, though uncertain in which ; 
and in that case he will take measures for guarding against an attack from the 
one, and also from the other, of those two places, — though the enemy, he knows, 
cannot actually be in both. 



116 



WHATELTS ESSAYS. 



Some persons, however, not deficient in good sense on other 
points, imagine themselves to derive from this doctrine a con- 
solatory satisfaction, which thej do in fact feel, and perhaps 
not without reason, but the real grounds of which they mis- 
state. The doctrine that some persons are elected absolutely 
to final salvation they confound with the belief — a highly 
consolatory one, no doubt — that they themselves are of the 
number. But as long as any decree is (as our XVIIth Arti- 
cle expresses it) nobis arcanum," secret to us^ we have no 
more satisfactory certainty than if no such decree had existed. 
Our knowledge or belief that any event — no matter whether 
past, present, or future — infixed, leaves it still a contingency 
to us till we know in what way it is fixed. Suppose, for 
instance, a man knows that a law-cause on which his whole 
property depends was decided yesterday at some distant place : 
if he expressed his satisfaction in this knowledge, you might 
ask him why he should be rejoiced to know that he is either 
secured from loss, or else ruined. Pie would probably reply 
by dwelling on the goodness of his cause, the ability of his ad- 
vocate, and the uprightness and wisdom of the judge. " But 
then you mistake," it might be answered, the ground of your 
satisfaction : for all these circumstances are what you were 
equally aware of the day before the trial came on ; and it is on 
these, and on the consequent belief in a favorable decision, that 
your satisfaction is really founded — not on the mere knowl- 
edge that some decision has been made, which is secret to us." 

Taking the system in question, then, as expounded by its 
soundest advocates, it is impossible to show any one point in 
which a person is called upon either to act or to feel, in any 
respect differently, in consequence of his adopting it. And this 
conclusion, indeed, may be considered as virtually admitted by 
the maintainers of the predestinarian scheme ; since, whenever 
they are engaged in setting forth the beneficial results of their 



ON ELECTIO::^. 



117 



doctrineSj they invariably dwell on such as are not peculiar to 
them, — such as faith in the atonement, self-abasement, and 
renunciation of all reliance on our own merits, gratitude for 
Christ's redeeming mercy, and reliance on the promised guid- 
ance of the Holy Spirit ; and other such doctrines, which 
are indeed both true and of inestimable practical value, but 
which have no necessary or natural connection with the pecu- 
liar notions of Calvin respecting election ; and which, in fact, 
are sincerely and heartily embraced by numbers who reject 
those notions. 

Were I as much inclined to enter into controversy as I am 
averse to it, on this point, at least, I should have no temptation 
to do so ; since I cannot devise or even conceive any more 
decisive proofs of what has been just remarked, than the very 
objections adduced by those who wish to disprove it. Let any 
one try the experiment of proposing to predestinarians the 
assertion just made of the purely speculative character of the 
doctrines in question, and he will find the grounds on which it 
is denied sufficient to satisfy an unbiassed mind of its truth. 
They will allege the cheering stimulant of love and gratitude 
which a man feels who is convinced that his sins are forgiven, 
and that a " crown of righteousness " is laid up for him after 
he shall " have fought the good fight, and finished his course ; " 
but they will admit that this confidence is false and dangerous, 
unless he shall have ascertained, by careful and candid self-ex- 
amination, that he is practically imbued with Christian hope, 
faith, and charity, and is earnestly striving to " increase more 
and more, " and to " grow in grace," to his life's end. Now 
all this may be the case with one who does not hold the abso- 
lute election to salvation of some, and the reprobation of others ; 
while, on the other hand, the fullest conviction of the final per- 
severance and acceptance of God's elect, affords no satisfaction 
to one who may doubt whether he himself is one of the elect. 



118 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



The cheering prospect is supplied, not by the general doctrine 
of divine decrees, but by each man's view of his own Christian 
state of holiness. And a confidence founded on good grounds^ 
I for one, at least, should never think of repressing.^ 

They will enumerate, again, the many zealous and active 
Christians who have been strict predestinarians ; — they will 
speak of the Reformers, forward in testifying against Romish 
errors, who have held the same tenet ; and of the attachment 
of many bigoted Romanists to the doctrine of free-will (though, 
by the way, Augustine, the strenuous advocate of predesti- 
nation, is, among the Fathers, rather the favorite saint of the 
Romish Church), as well as the immoral lives of many who 
reject predestination, etc. But if any one keeps close to the 
original question, and persists in asking, How do you trace 
those good eflFects to a belief in your absolute decrees ? — How 
do you show that your 'peculiar doctrines are, not merely com- 
patihle with Christian virtue (for that is admitted), but condu- 
cive to it ? — How do you trace these other ill effects to a rejec- 
tion of those peculiar doctrines ? — How is it proved that the 
parties respectively act as they do, properly in consequence of 
their belief or disbelief of this tenet ? — if, I say, these ques- 
tions are persisted in, and all irrelevant matter set aside, I am 
much mistaken if any satisfactory answer will be obtained. 

The fact is that several of the most important and truly 
practical doctrines of Christianity have been, in the minds of 
some men, so intimately blended, from their childhood, with 
other tenets, which are not practical, that they themselves, un- 
less possessed of unusual clearness of thought, are utterly una- 
ble to conceive them disunited ; and might even be in some 
danger of abandoning what is essential, were they induced to 
give up some other point, in reality totally unconnected with 
it. Their whole system of faith may be compared to some of 

1 See the next Essay. 



ON ELECTION. 119 

the ancient compound medicines, of great efficacy and value, 
though cumbered with several drugs that are utterly inert. 
Many practitioners, unskilled in analysis, cannot conceive but 
that the success with which the compound is often administered 
is a proof of the efficacy of each ingredient, and of the absurdity 
of thinking to separate them. 

It is common, in cases of this kind, to appeal to the testimony 
of experience ; though but a small proportion of even the most 
experienced men are fit judges of what it is that their experi- 
ence does testify. He who has long been accustomed to ad- 
minister a certain compound medicine, or to teach a certain 
system of doctrines, and who has found his patients recover, or 
his hearers improve, will often believe, not only that every part 
of this compound is essential, but that this is established by 
experience.-^ 

I am far from thinking harshly of predestinarians, or of decid- 
ing that their peculiar doctrines are altogether untrue ; though 
to me they do not appear, at least, to be either practical or re- 
vealed truths. I do not call on them to renounce their opinions 
as heretical, but merely to abstain from imposing on others, 
as a necessary part of the Christian faith, a doctrine which 
cannot be clearly deduced from Scripture ; and which there is 
this additional reason for supposing not to be revealed in Scrip- 
ture, — that it cannot be shown to have any joracfica^ tendency. 
For since it is plainly the object of the Scriptures to declare to 
us such truths as it concerns us to know, with a view to the 
regulation of our lives, not such as are to us mere matters of 
speculative curiosity ; and since the doctrines in question, when 
so explained as to lead to no evil results, lead to no practical 
results at all, the natural inference must be (even independent 
of the arguments formerly urged) that these doctrines are not 
such as we can reasonably expect, at least, to find in Scripture : 

1 See Elements of Rhetoric, Part II. chap. ii. § 5. 



120 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



and if not so revealed, be they true or false, they can constitute 
no part of the Christian faith} It is not contended that the 
doctrines in question have a hurtful influence on human con- 
duct, and consequently are untrue ; but that they have, accord- 
ing to the soundest exposition of them, no influence on our con- 
duct whatever; and, consequently (revelation being not de- 
signed to impart mere speculative knowledge),^ that they are 
not to be taught as revealed truths. 

§ VI. Let it not be said, however, that, being at least harm- 
less, it is unimportant whether they are inculca- 

The danger of mis- ' ■*• 

leading some and ted or not I thcy are harmless to those who adopt 

disgusting others 

not to be wantonly them iu thc scusc and with the qualifications 

incurred. 

just mentioned ; but it does not follow that they 
are harmless to others. On the one hand that the doctrines of 
" predestination and our election in Christ " may be so held as 
to prove (according to the language of our XVIIth Article) a 
" dangerous downfall," will hardly be denied by any f and, on 
the other hand, they may prove a stumbling-block to those who 
do not hold them, by raising a prejudice against other doctrines 
— some of the most important of Christianity — when taught 
in conjunction with these, and represented as connected with 
them. Now, it is to be admitted, indeed, that there may be 
dangers of this nature attendant on every gospel truth, sinct 
there is none that may not be perverted by some, or that may 
not give offence to others ; but in the case of anything which 
plainly appears to he gospel truth, this danger must be braved : 
we must preach God's word as we have received it, and trust 
in him to prosper and defend it. But it is not so in the case 
of doctrines which (whether true or not) are not plainly de- 
clared in Scripture. The dangers to which any such doctrines 

1 See Essay lY. (First Series.) 2 Ibid. 

3 See Note B, at the end of this Essay. 



oint election. 



121 



may lead, are needlessly and wantonly incurred ; and those who 
preach them are answerable for the results. If the speculations 
of human ingenuity be mingled with the revealed word of God, 
even though the opinions maintained be true, some may be mis- 
led, and others unnecessarily disgusted. Christianity may be 
loaded (as Dr. Paley expresses himself respecting transubstan- 
tiation) with "a weight that sinks it;" and the mischiefs ensu- 
ing will be justly imputable to the rashness of those who give 
occasion to them. 

Let Christians, then, be taught to rejoice, indeed, in their high 
privileges, as the " called " and " elect " and " peculiar people 
of God ; " but let them be taught, also, while they offer up their 
thanks for his unmerited mercies, to consider their own dili- 
gence and care as indispensable, not only to their attainment 
of the offered blessings, but also to their escape from an aggra- 
va,ted condemnation, — for " provoking and grieving Him who 
had done so great things for them, " " as in the provocation, and 
as in the day of temptation in the wilderness. " Let them be 
told to trust, indeed, firmly in the aid and guidance of God's 
Holy Spirit, which will conduct those who earnestly seek it, 
and walk according to it, through the perils of the wilderness 
of this world to the glories of their promised inheritance ; but 
let them learn from the rebellious Israelites that he will not 
force them to enter into that good land, but will even exclude 
from it those who refuse to hearken to him. Wherefore, " let 
him that thinketh he standeth, tahe heed lest he fall." God is 
indeed " faithful who hath promised ; " but he requires us also to 
be faithful to ourselves ; and he has taught us, both by precepts 
and by examples, that if we harden our hearts, and will not 
hear his voice, we shall not " enter into his rest." 

11 



122 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



NOTES TO ESSAY HI. 



Note A — Page 91. 

I HAVE spoken of the Augustinian and Calvinistic theory of de- 
crees, as including absolute Election and Reprobation, because Cal- 
vin himself, and the rest of the principal writers of that school, 
regard them (and I cannot but think quite reasonably) as altogether 
inseparable. Indeed, Calvin expressly opposes as futile the attempt 
made by some to draw a distinction. " Many," says he, " as if wishing 
to remove odium from God, while they admit election^ yet deny rep- 
robation ; but in this they speak ignorantly and childishly ; since 
election itself could not be maintained except as contrasted with rep- 
robation. God is said to set apart those whom he adopts as children, 
for salvation. Those, therefore, whom he passes by, he condemns ; 
and that for no cause whatever, except that he chooses to exclude 
them from the inheritance which he predestinates for his children/' 
And again, shortly after, he says, " Whence comes it that so many 
nations, with their infant children, should be sentenced irremediably 
to eternal death, by the fall of Adam, except that such was God's 
will ? " " The decree is, I confess, a horrible one," etc.^ 

There are, however — as Calvin intimates there were in his time 
— persons who profess to hold the doctrine of absolute election in 
the sense I have been speaking of, and yet to reject that of reproba- 

1 " Multi quidem, ac si invidiam a Deo repellere vellent, electionem itafatentur 
ut negent quenquam reprobari. Sed inscit^ nimis et pueriliter, quando ipsa elec- 
tio nisi reprobationi opposita non staret. Dicitur segregare Deus quos adoptat 
in salutem. . . . Quos ergo Deus prasterit, reprobat ; neque alia de causal nisi 
quod ab hereditate quam filiis suis praedestinat, illos vult excludere " (Inst. L. 

iii. c. xxiii. § 1) " Unde factum est, ut tot gentes, una cum liberis eorura 

infantibus, aeternae morti involveret lapsus Adae absque remedio, nisi quia Deo 
ita visum est ? Hie obmutescere oportet tam dicaces alioqui linguas. Decretum 
quidem horribile fateor ; inficiari tamen nemo poterit quin praesciverit Deus quern 
exitum esset habiturus homo, antequam ipsum conderet, et ideo praesciverit, 
quia decreto suo sic ordinarat" (Calvin Instit. L. iii. c. xxiii § 7). How far 
from having attained to this doctrine, or tjorming any notion of it, must have 
been those disciples who were present when our Lord " beheld the city and 
WEPT OVER it! " 



ON ELECTION. 



123 



tion. And if tliey offer any explanation of the mode in which they 
teach the one so as not to imply the other (as Baxter appears to 
have done) they are entitled to a respectful hearing ; or, even, if 
they offer no explanation, still, if they solemnly profess that they 
hold this, and not that, we are bound not to impute to any one opin- 
ions which he distinctly disavows. 

But it cannot be conceded that a man does not teach — whatever 
may be his own belief — anything which is plainly implied in what he 
says, on the ground of his merely avoiding an express statement of 
it. A jury which finds a verdict ''/or the plaintiff^^^ does find a ver- 
dict " against the defendant^^ though they may not use those words. 
A philosopher who maintains — as some do — that the earth is the 
only planet that is inhabited^ is certainly maintaining that the other 
planets are uninhabited, whether he makes particular mention of 
them or not. Suppose a citizen of one of the Slave States to tell us 
" by the laws of our State, all freemen, and freemen alone, are ad- 
missible as witnesses ; but as for the exclusion of the testimony of 
slaves, our laws make no mention of that : " we should consider him 
(if we could suppose him to be speaking seriously) as resorting to a 
disingenuous, though a very absurd subterfuge. 

So, also, to teach that it is a portion of the gospel revelation that 
by an eternal decree certain persons are absolutely and infallibly 
predestined to salvation, and that they only will obtain it, is to teach 
that, by that very decree, all others are excluded. And it signifies 
nothing whether the word used be " reprobation," or " preterition," 
or " non-election," or any other, or none at all. The mere absti- 
nence from the employment of this or that term makes no difference 
as to the doctrine taught, if that doctrine be so plainly implied that 
it is hardly possible for any plain common sense to overlook it. 

If any one is convinced that the Scriptures do reveal certain doc- 
trines, of which one portion is designed for none but the most learned 
theologians and farthest advanced Christians, and ought to be kept 
back from the multitude,^ he should not so speak as by implication 

1 " You will reap much improvement from the view of predestination in its 
full extent if your eyes are able steadfastly to look at all which God has made 
knoivn concerning it. But if your spiritual sight is weak, forego the inquiry as 
far as reprobation is concerned, and be content to know but in part " (Toi3lady 
on Predestination. Preface, p. viii). It is not easy to see how this suggestion is 
to be acted on. If indeed it had been recommended to a preacher to conceal 
from those of " weak sight " a portion of the gospel revelation, this would have 



124 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



to convey that doctrine to all, and plead tliat lie does not teach it 
because he does not expressly name it. This would be to attempt, 
feebly and ineffectually, the system (recommended by some of the 
ancient Fathers, and by the writers of the Oxford Tracts) of " double 
doctrine " and " reserve." ^ And it would be similar to the supposed 
case, just above, in reference to slave testimony. 

But any one, again, who thinks himself bound to declare, openly, 
to all, the gospel revelation, and yet uses language which will be 
understood by at least ninety-nine in a hundred as implying what 
he himself holds to be no part of the gospel revelation, is manifestly 
bound so to explain himself as to enable them to escape such conclu- 
sions.^ 

I wish it, then, to be distinctly understood, first, that I do not im- 
pute to any one opinions which he disclaims, nor am discussing any 
question as to what is inwardly believed by each, but only as to what 
is, whether directly or obliquely, taught; and secondly, that I purposely 
abstain, throughout, from entering on the question as to what is abso- 
lutely true — inquiring only what is or is not to be received and 
taught as a portion of revealed gospel truili. For, no metaphysical 
dogma, however sound and capable of philosophical proof, ought to 
be taught as a portion of revealed truth, if it shall appear that the 
passages of Scripture that are supposed to declare it relate, in reality, 
to a different matter. 

" I would wish it to be remembered," says Archbishop Sumner, 
" that I do not desire to argue against predestination as believed in 
the closet, but as taught from the pulpit." 

been, at least, an intelligible and consistent application of the system of*- Econ- 
omy " and " Reserve." But one does not see how a man can practise this reserve 
on himself. It is in vain to say, " Be content to know but in part, and not to 
know this particular doctrine, since it alarms and shocks you precisely because 
you do know it, and do believe it to be a part of what God has made known." 

1 See Dr. West's Discourse on Reserve. 

2 " Without doubt," says Whitefield (vol. iv. p. 58)," the doctrines of election 
and reprobation must stand or fall together." 

"You are greatly mistaken," says Calvin (Christophoro Liberteto, Col, 142), 
" if you think the eternal counsel of God can be so divided as that it has so cho- 
sen some for salvation as not to have devoted any to destruction. For if he has 
elected some, it follows necessarily that all are not elected. Now what more 
can we say of these except that they are left to perish ? There must be, there- 
fore, a mutual relation between the elected and the reprobated." 



ON ELECTIOlSr. 



125 



Note B — Page 120. 

It is wortli while here to remark, that there is a principle of great 
importance to be kept in mind in the interpretation of any document 
(such as the Thirty-nine Articles) emanating from a synod or assem- 
bly of any kind, — a principle which is hardly ever adverted to by 
commentators. I have formerly delineated this principle as follows ; 

" It is usual, and not unreasonable, to pay more deference — other 
points being equal — to the decisions of a council^ or assemUy of any 
kind (embodied in a manifesto, act of parliament, speech from the 
throne, report, set of articles, etc.), than to those of an individual, 
equal, or even superior, to any member of such assembly. But in 
one point — and it is a very important one, though usually over- 
looked — this rule is subject to something of an exception, which 
may be thus stated : In any composition of an individual who is 
deemed worthy of respect, we presume that whatever he says must 
have meaning, — must tend towards some object which could 
not be equally accomplised by erasing the whole passage. He is 
expected never to lay down a rule, and then add exceptions, nearly, 
or altogether coextensive with it ; nor in any way to have so mod- 
ified and explained away some assertion that each portion of a pas- 
sage shall be virtually neutralized by the other. Now if we interpret 
in this way anyyoznf-production of several persons, we shall often be 
led into mistakes. For, those who have had experience as members 
of any deliberative assembly, know by that experience (what indeed 
any one might conjecture) how much compromise will usually take 
place between conflicting opinions, and what will naturally thence 
result. One person, for example, will urge the insertion of some- 
thing which another disapproves ; and the result will usually be, 
after much debate, something of what is popularly called * splitting 
the difierence : ' the insertion will be made, but accompanied with 
such limitations and modifications as nearly to nullify it. A fence 
will be erected in compliance with one party, and a gap will be left 
in it to gratify another. And, again, there will often be, in some 
document of this class, a total silence on some point whereon, perhaps, 
most of the assembly would have preferred giving a decision, but 
could not agree wliat decision it should be." 

Our XVIIth Article is a striking exemplification of what has been 
said ; for it contains modifications and limitations, in one part, of 
11* 



126 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



what is laid down in another, such as go near to neutralize the one 
by the other. 

It begins by stating the doctrine of predestination in a form which 
certainly may be, and we know often has been, understood in the 
Calvinistic sense ; and then it proceeds to point out the danger of 
dwelling on that doctrine, if so understood, before curious and carnal 
persons ; of whom one may presume there will usually be some in 
any congregation or mixed company ; so that such a doctrine is sel- 
dom if ever publicly set forth. Next, it cautions us against taking 
the divine promises otherwise than as they are " generally (general- 
iter) set forth in Scripture ; " that is, as made to classes of men, — 
those of such and such a description^ — and not to individuals. We 
are not, in short, to pronounce this or that man one of the elect (in 
the Calvinistic sense), except so far as we may judge from the 
kind of character he manifests. And, lastly, we are warned, in our 
own conduct, not to vindicate any act as conformable to God's will 
on the ground that whatever takes place must have been decreed by 
him ; but are to consider conformity to his will as consisting in obe- 
dience to his injunctions* 

If, then, — some may saj^, — this doctrine is, first, not to be 
licly set forth; nor, secondly, applied in our judgment of any individ- 
ual; nor, thirdly, applied in our own conduct, why need it at all have 
been mentioned? 

As for the comfort enjoyed from the " godly consideration " of it, 
by those who " feel within themselves the workings of God's Holy 
Spirit," etc., it would be most unreasonable to suppose that this can- 
not be equally enjoyed by those who do not hold predestinarian views, 
but who not the less fully trust in and love their Eedeemer, and 
" keep his saying." 

But the Article is manifestly the result of a compromise between 
conflicting views, — one party insisting on the insertion of certain 
statements, which the other consented to admit only on condition of 
the insertion of certain limitations and cautions, to guard against the 
dangers that might attend the reception of the doctrine in a sense 
of which the former passage is capable. 



ESSAY lY. 



ON PEKSEVERANCE AND ASSURANCE. 

§ 1. There are many passages in the Apostle Paul's writings 
in which he expresses his assured expectation 

... The same apostle 

of the final success of his converts m attaining principally appeai- 

. , -, . n ' , -r> • ed to in support of 

the gospel promises ; tor instance, " Being conji- the doctrines of the 
dent of this very thing, that He who hath begun ^rlhrereXTnd 
a ffood work in you will perform it until the day ^^^'"^ fuii assurance 

^ J r J of salvation. 

of Jesus Christ ; " that is, that, at his last coming 
to judge the world, they will be numbered among the inheritors 
of immortal happiness with him. It is in a similar tone that 
he addresses the Corinthians in his first epistle to them : " Wait- 
ing for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also 
confirm you unto the end^ that ye may be blameless in the day 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, there is hardly any one of 
his epistles^ in which he does not express the same exulting 
anticipation of eternal life awaiting his beloved on earth : the 
gratitude and joy which he consequently feels on their behalf 
are scarcely ever left unmentioned. 

Passages of this description are appealed to as establishing the 
doctrine of " final perseverance " and " assurance ; " that is, of 
the impossibility of ultimate failure, to those who are once truly 
elected of God ; and the complete conviction which such per- 



1 I mean, of those addressed, not to individuals, but to the members generally 
of some church. 



128 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



sons may (or must) attain, on earth, of their own safety. The 
dangerous consequences, again, apprehended by many from 
these as well as other doctrines maintained on this apostle's 
authority, have accordingly but too often led them to depreciate 
his writings, or to regard them with suspicion and dread, and 
to keep them in a great degree out of sight. 

That such opinions as those alluded to (as far, that is, as 
they are erroneous and mischievous) have been grounded on a 
misunderstanding of these writings, and may be the most effect- 
ually refuted by a fair and correct exposition of the author's 
meaning, I have endeavored to show in the preceding Essay, 
as far as relates to the doctrine of Christian election. Closely 
connected with this, and next in natural order to it, are the 
doctrines just mentioned ; on which, accordingly, I now propose 
to offer some remarks. But it will be the less necessary to 
dwell on them on account of that closeness of connection — the 
one question being a kind of offshoot from the other. Abso- 
lute predestination to eternal life evidently implies the physical 
impossibility of ultimate failure, — in short, the infallible perse- 
verance of the elect ; and consequently if any one has arrived 
at the knowledge that he is one of the elect, he cannot but have 
the most complete assurance of his own safety. And these 
notions are, not without some probable grounds at least, re- 
garded by many as pernicious in the extreme, — as naturally 
leading to careless and arrogant confidence, spiritual pride, re- 
laxation of virtuous efforts, and indulgence of vicious propensi- 
ties. They have accordingly labored to repel this danger by 
dwelling much and sedulously on the uncertainty, even to the 
last, of the state of even the best Christian ; and of the possi-' 
hility^ of his falling even from the most confirmed state of grace 
and holiness. 

1 See Appendix to Logic, ArUcle " Possible." 



GIST PERSEVERANCE AND ASSURANCE. 



129 



§ II. It should be remembered, however, that we may, in our 
extreme caution against one danger, fall into the 
opposite. Presumptuous confidence, and careless ^omtw do^^ 
security, are indeed evils to be carefully guarded apt to lead to 

' o an opposite danger. 

against ; but thej are not the only evils to be ap- 
prehended: despondency, and, what is more likely to occur, 
deadness of the affections in all that relates to religion, and a 
total aversion of the mind towards it, may be generated, in 
some persons at least, by dwelling too much and too earnestly 
on the chances of ultimate failure. 

It should be remembered, too, that the doctrines of perse- 
verance in godliness and of assurance of salvation, in some 
sense or other, have received the full sanction of the Apostle 
Paul ; nor would he so often and so strongly have expressed 
his grateful exultation in the spiritual state of his converts, and 
his full confidence that the " good work begun in them " would 
ultimately be completed, had he not considered the exhibition 
of these cheering and encouraging prospects as highly edify- 
ing and conducive to their Christian progress. And I cannot 
but think that his example in this point has been too little at- 
tended to by some writers, who overlook the dangers on one 
side, while they overrate those on the other; which at the 
same time they do not take the most effectual way to obviate. 
It is not enough that they express the fullest confidence in 
God's fulfilment of his promises to all who are not wanting on 
their part. To one whose mind is disposed to serious thought- 
fulness, all doubts respecting his final salvation (however well 
convinced he may be that if he fail of it the fault will be his 
own) — doubts which must imply the apprehension of the 
unspeakably horrible alternative — cannot but suggest (in pro- 
portion as they prevail) the wish that Christianity were un- 
true, — that this life were the whole of his existence, rather than 



130 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



that the remotest risk of such an alternative should be incurred.^ 
And a wish of this kind is utterly at variance with such a state 
of mind as, according to Paul, the Christian's ought to be. 
For it must not be imagined that a wish relative to something 
wliich (as in the present case) does not at all depend on our 
choice, must, therefore, be wholly inoperative and unimportant. 
No man's wishes can indeed make a religion false ; they may 
even not cause him to disbelieve it ; but they may yet very 
easily lead him, without any deliberate design, habitually to with- 
draw his thoughts from a painfully alarming subject. There 
is a propensity in the human mind (which, however unreason- 
able and absurd, is instinctive, and almost unavoidable) to turn 
away, insensibly, more and more, from the contemplation of that 
which is unpleasant. Nor will such feelings of dread, distaste, 
and aversion as have been alluded to, be necessarily confined 
(as at first sight one might suppose) to men who are knowingly 
leading such a life as can afford them little or no just ground 
of hope in the gospel promises. For it should be remembered 
that the apprehension of suffering is so incomparably more 
keen than the anticipation of gratification, — so faint and feeble 
are our conceptions of happiness compared with those of 
misery, — that the least admixture of a dread of any very ter- 
rible evil, will, when really impressed on the mind, more than 
counterbalance a far greater amount of favorable hopes ; and, 
consequently, to a thoughtful mind, the idea of certain annihi- 

1 It is to be observ^d^ that when I speak of the horror of being in any daubt, 
or of apprehending ^ny risk^ contemplating any chance, of this or that evil, etc., 
I mean absolute^ not hypothetical or conditional risk, possibility, probability, 
etc. ; for this latter does not occasion any uneasiness. A man is shocked, for in- 
stance, at the idea of the remotest risk of being overwhelmed in the sea, or of 
perishing with hunger ; but he knows that when walking on the seashore he 
would be probably overwhelmed if he should stay there till the tide came up ; 
and that he would be starved if he should refuse to take the food that is before 
him: but this (as it may be called) hypothetical danger gives him no uneasiness 
at all. 



ox PERSEVERANCE AND ASSURANCE. 



131 



lation would appear far preferable to the remotest cliancc of 
endless misery. 

Now it is with those of a thoughtful turn that we are con- 
cerned in the present question. As for the great mass of the 
careless and worldly, they are, indeed, for the most part, far too 
confident of salvation ; but their confidence commonly results 
from a vague, general, un weighed notion of God's mercy — not 
from any predestinarian persuasion of their being selected from 
the rest of mankind, and ordained to persevere in holiness, 
under the constant guidance of the divine Spirit. They need, 
indeed, to be, if possible, alarmed and filled with apprehension ; 
but it is a far different kind of alarm they need from that of 
which we have been speaking. They need to be warned of 
the dangers attendant on a careless^ not on an active and zeal- 
ous Christian life, — of the danger, not of falling from a state of 
grace, but of never striving to be in such a state, — of the danger 
of losing heaven ; not by turning from the service of God, but 
by not turning from the service of sin. Their false security 
arises, not from their dwelling with too confident expectation 
on the glories of a better world, but from their thinking too lit- 
tle, or not at all, of any world but this. Let such be alarmed, 
by all means possible, into a just sense of the ruin to which 
they are hastening by taking no pains to lead a Christian life : 
and to urge such a ground of alarm will have no tendency to 
dishearten those who are conscious of an earnest desire and 
endeavor to live to God. And the more confidence is expressed 
of the final success of those who will come to Christ, and set 
themselves to work out their own salvation, the more will the 
sinner be encouraged to begin in earnest^ and pursue with 
vigor, the great work of reformation. 

§ III. But is there, then, it may be asked, no " fear and 
trembling " to be felt by all men in working out their salvation ? 



132 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



Can a man be exempt from all danger of excessive and pre- 
sumptuous confidence? Undoubtedly such a 

Mode in which 

both dangers-are to danger is alwajs, and by every one, to be sed- 
be avoided. ulously guarded against; but it will be best 

guarded against, not by seeking to lower the Christian's hopes, 
but by connecting his confidence with his own unremitting 
efforts, — by striving to establish in his thoughts an inseparable 
combination between the idea of the happiness he looks for- 
ward to, and that of the requisite exertions on his part. The 
fullest confidence of attaining any object, if the attainment of it 
be still regarded as dependent on our own endeavors, and if 
that confidence be grounded on a firm resolution to use those 
endeavors, can never lead to negligence and inactivity.^ 

The Christian who is earnestly striving to be led by the 
Holy Spirit, and to " grow in grace " daily, must not be told, 
indeed, that he cannot turn aside from the right path if he 
would, — > that it is out of his power to fall into a life of sin ; but 
that " fear and trembling " which I conceive Paul to have in- 
tended, — the conviction, namely, that our care and diligence 
are never to be laid aside even to the end, — will not lessen 
such confidence as proceeds on the full determination to retain 
that diligent care ; nor will it dash with any mixture of gloomy 
apprehensions the joyful anticipations with which such a Chris- 
tian looks forward to a future life. 

And since this inspiriting confidence is evidently calculated 
to produce a good practical effect, hence it is, perhaps, that some 
who hold those notions relative to predestination and election 
which were adverted to in the last Essay, are led to suppose, 
(contrary to what I have there maintained, § V.) that these 
peculiar doctrines are practical. For, men who are not much 
accustomed to attentive and accurate reflection, are easily led 
to confound together two things perfectly distinct ; namely, first, 

1 See Note A, at the end of this Essay. 



ON PERSEVERANCE AND ASSURANCE. 



133 



a man's practical confidence, personally, as to his ovm final sal- 
vation ; and, secondly, the belief that a decree has gone forth 
respecting every man, placing each in the list either of the elect 
who cannot fail of salvation, or of the reprobate who cannot 
attain to it. Now these two persuasions are in nowise necessa- 
rily connected. A man may hold either of them without the 
other. On the one hand, any one's joyful anticipations in re- 
spect of his own case (which have a practical tendency) are not, 
as I have above shown, anything peculiar to the views of the 
Calvinistic school respecting election ; on the other hand, these 
views have, as has also been shown, whether true or false, 
no practical tendency, and do not even necessarily imply any- 
thing cheering and consolatory. For, a man's conviction that 
every one's destiny is fixed for good or evil can afford him no 
comfort, unless he is assured that his own is the favorable des- 
tiny. Many indeed do combine these two persuasions ; but still 
they are two^ and distinct, and may be disunited. Nor is the 
number small of those who are naturally of a temper over- 
timid, anxious, and unreasonably desponding, — such as need 
encouragement ; but are too often denied, both by Calvinists 
and Arminians, such encouragement as their case calls for. 

§ IV. "We may learn, not only from the apostle's precepts 
relative to Christian trust and " ioy in the Holy ^ ^ 

Confirmation of 

Ghost," but also from his example, as recorded the view here ta- 
ken, from the ex- 

in the Acts of the Apostles, in concerns of a ample of Paul's 

, conduct, and from 

different nature, that he at least did not consider that of meain gen- 
the active and circumspect employment of means 
inconsistent with the most undoubting certainty as to the event 
— even a certainty founded on immediate precise revelation 
from heaven. Let any one read the account of what befell 
him while imprisoned at Jerusalem, and he will find him as- 
sured, by a supernatural vision, of his deliverance from the 
12 



134 



WIIATELY'S ESSAYS. 



then present danger : " Be of good cheer, Paul ; for thou must 
bear witness of me also at Rome." Yet when the designs 
of the conspirators to murder him came to his knowledge, he 
took every precaution (by sending to warn the chief captain) 
that prudent apprehension could suggest.^ Again he was fa- 
vored, on the occasion of the shipwreck, with a like supernatu- 
ral assurance that he, being destined by his Master to arrive at 
Rome, should be saved from the peril of the sea ; and, more- 
over, that his companions should be spared also for his sake,^ 
and should come safe to land ; yet immediately after, we find 
him using and suggesting every precautionary means that could 
have occurred to the most doubting and fearful. It was through 
Paul's presence of mind that the mariners were withheld from 
deserting the ship, and depriving the passengers of their need- 
ful aid : " Then said Paul, Except these abide in the ship, ye 
cannot he saved'' ^ Was it, then, that he doubted, in this or 
in the former case, the supernatural assurance he had received ? 
Surely not ; but he regarded that very assurance as grounded 
on the supposition that he himself should employ all those 
regular means which he on his part was ready and fully re- 
solved to employ. His exertions (which he was conscious of 
being determined to use) formed the hypothesis (if I may 
so speak) on which the divine promise proceeded ; and he evi- 
dently judged it possible that he mighty in one sense of the 
phrase, lose his life at Jerusalem, or in the shipwreck ; that is, 
it was in his power to cast away his life if he chose not to use 
the requisite exertions ; but such a possibility as this could not 
lead to any doubt or distressing apprehension. So, also, when 
(1 Cor. ch. 9) he describes himself as " bringing his body into 
subjection, lest he should be a castaway," he is not expressing 
any painful anticipation of being a castaway, because he does 
not at all anticipate that relaxation of his exertion and vigi- 
lance which would lead to such a result. 

1 Acts xxiii. 17. 2 Acts xxvii. 22. 3 Acts xxvii. 31. 



ON PERSEVERANCE AND ASSURANCE. 



135 



Nor is this a distinction too refined for any but the highest 
and most perfect order of minds ; on the contrary, experience 
shows that it is within the reach of the most ordinary capacity. 
No tiling, indeed, is more common than the expression of a full 
conviction as to what some person's conduct will be on some 
particular occasion, — that conviction being grounded on the 
supposition that his disposition as to the point in question is 
fully ascertained, and that it is a matter depending on his own 
free choice. " Such a one is sure,^ it is said, " to act in this 
manner ; " "he is incapahle of doing so and so." And when we 
thus prophesy another's conduct, we are evidently exempt from 
all danger of mistahe, supposing we are originally correct in 
our judgment as to the other's inclination, and as to his being 
free to follow that inclination ; and yet, though it is in a certain 
sense " impossible " that he should act otherwise, so far is this 
anticipation of his conduct from implying that he is powerless, 
or under restraint, that it proceeds on the very supposition 
of his being left perfectly free. 

And, again, with respect to one's own conduct : that confi- 
dence of success necessarily diminishes exertion, is notoriously 
the reverse of truth. Every general seeks to inspire his sol- 
diers with the firmest confidence of victory, — which expe- 
rience proves to be the best incentive to those exertions that 
are requisite to insure it. Many a man, from having been per- 
suaded by omens or by the predictions of astrologers that he 
fated to attain some great object, has, in consequence, instead 
of being lulled into carelessness by this belief, been excited to 
the most laborious and unwearied efforts — such as perhaps he 
would not otherwise have thought of making — for the attain- 
ment of his object. 

The Macbeth of Shakspeare may be appealed to as an ex- 
ample even more convincing than that of any single individual 
of real history, — if, at least, it be admitted that Shakspeare in 



13G 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



Ills delineations of character is true to nature. For, if so, they 
must be conformable to general nature ; and each character must 
be a representative, if not of man universally, at least of some 
class of men. A real individual, on the contrary, may chance 
to be an exception to all general rules ; but such a person could 
not be introduced into a drama without bringing censure on the 
poet as guilty of a departure from nature.^ Now Macbeth is 
evidently both prompted in the first instance to aim at the 
crown, and fortified to go through with his attempt, by the pre- 
diction of the witches. We might abstractedly have supposed 
that he would even have been withheld — had he previously 
had the design — from the perpetration of a crime he abhorred, 
by the consideration that it must be needless, since it was in- 
fallibly decreed that he should be king. Once, and only once, 
the thought occurs to him, — " If Chance will have me king, why 
Chance may crown me, without my stir ; " but, far from acting 
on this view, rational as it appears, his conduct is throughout 
in direct opposition to it. 

It has been said — though not, I think, correctly — that, in 
cases of this kind, the reason why belief in fate does not lead 
to inactivity is because it is inoperative. It does not indeed 
operate in the same way in which it would in some persons. 
There are many who would be deterred from incurring guilt 
or danger or toil for the sake of a kingdom, by their being fully 
convinced of being fated to attain to it. But others are led by 
this very belief to use efibrts which they otherwise would not 
have used. Now, surely it is not correct to call that belief in- 
operative which does palpably lead to results, merely because 
it seems to us strange that such should be the result. 

The common sense, even of the simple and unlearned Chris- 
tian, will be sufiicient to show him, and show him practically, 
the distinction between that vain confidence which leads to 

1 See remarks on tlie Plausible," Elements of Rhetoric, Part 1. 



o:n" perseverance and assurance. 



137 



in activity, and a rational confidence connected vnth exertion ; 
provided a due attention is but paid to those ambiguities of 
language which have been already noticed. In fact, lie may 
be easily taught that the distinction is one which he acts upon 
continually in the ordinary affairs of life. When returning, for 
instance, from his daily labor to his home, he feels a perfect 
certainty (supposing his life and limbs to be spared) that he 
shall reach his home : it is an event of which, practically, he 
feels no more doubt than of the setting of the sun ; but he does 
not therefore staiid stilly and neglect to use the means, because 
he is confident of the event : on the contrary, the very ground 
of his confidence is the full determination he feels to press 
forward towards his object. 

In like manner (it may be explained to him) it was in one 
sense possible, though in another sense impossible, that Paul 
should, even at his last trial, have deserted and renounced his 
Saviour ; that is, it was completely in his power. It depended 
on himself whether he would forsake his Lord, and forfeit his 
rich inheritance, or " lay hold on eternal life " which was just 
before him : so that in one sense it was true that he might fall 
and perish eternally ; but he was conscious that though he had 
the power, he had not the will thus to apostatize ; and there- 
fore fully trusting in his Saviour's promises, and in a resolution 
supported by divine aid, he pours forth (in his Second Epistle 
to Timothy) his exulting confidence of persevering even to the 
end : " The time of my departure is at hand. I have fought 
a good fight ; I have finished my course. Henceforth there is 
laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the 
righteous Judge, shall give me at that day ! " 

It cannot be denied, however, that there is practical danger 
in the tone in which some preachers dwell on such topics as the 
" final perseverance of God's people," the triumph of faith," — 
which, they say, is sure, if it be a true, saving faith, to prevail 
12* 



138 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



in the end, thougli God suffers his saints to fall into grievous 
sins purposely, " in order to humble them." ^ All this may be, 
and certainly has been in some cases (whether the recorded 
one of Oliver Cromwell be authentic or not),^ interpreted to 
mean that if a man has been at any time satisfied, from his own 
feelings, of being in a state of grace, he will be infallibly saved, 
and is not to regard any sin or course of sin he may subse- 
quently fall into as endangering his final acceptance. 

That this is not the meaning of many who preach in the man- 
ner I have described, I am well aware. But then, they are bound 
distinctly to warn " him that thinketh he standeth, to take heed 
lest he fall." They should explain that a saving faith can only 
be hnown to he such, either by the possessor of it, or by others, 
from its bringing forth fruits ; and that, by asserting the per- 
severance, or repentance and return to God (in case of falling 
into sin) of all God's people, they mean that those who fall 
away and do not return, were deceived in supposing themselves 
to have ever been, in this sense, God's people ; and that no 
man's state can be properly judged of but by his leading a 
Christian or an unchristian life, or can be perfectly hnown 
except at the last day. 

All this, it may be said, would be but a circuitous way of 
stating, in the form of its converse, the proposition that " He 
that endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved." But this, 
it is evident, must be the real meaning of those who use the 
above-mentioned expressions, without intending to teach Anti- 
nomian doctrines. 

But, as w^as observed in the preceding Essay (§ V.), it is not 
from dwelling on general decrees, but from the application to 
each individual, or each description of individuals, of such 

1 1 have heard this doctrine set forth in those very words, in a sermon. 

2 O. Cromwell is said to have anxiously asked, when on his deathbed, whether 
it were possible for the elect to fall finally ; and being answered in the negative, 
replied, " Then I am safe; for I am certain that I was once in a state of grace." 



ON PERSEVERANCE AND ASSURANCE. 



139 



admonitions or encouragements as suit the actual apparent 
condition of each, — it is from this alone that practical good 
results are to be hoped. 

Let the careless Christian, then, be roused and alarmed, — 
let the presumptuous be warned and repressed ; but let no dis- 
tressing and disheartening doubts be implanted in the breast of 
the zealous, though humble and timid follower of Christ : only, 
let his confidence be always made to rest on the supposition of 
his own unremitting care and earnest endeavor ; while, at the same 
time, it is made to rest, also, not on his own unaided strength, 
but on the promised support of Him who " worketh in us both 
to will and to do." Let him be encouraged to rejoice at the 
bright prospect set before him ; but to rejoice in the spiritual 
strength insured to him hj the Lord, who " never faileth them 
that seek him." "Eejoice" (says the apostle to such a Chris- 
tian) " Rejoice in the Lord alway ; and again I say, Rejoice 
. . . . being confident of this very thing, that He which hath 
begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of 
the Lord Jesus Christ." 



140 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



NOTE TO ESSAY IV. 

Note A— Page 132. 

There is a term applied in Scripture to persons who embraced the 
Christian faith for which our language affords no adequate transla- 
tion. We have not in English, as there is in Greek, present parti- 
ciple passive ; and this deficiency often drives us into awkward and 
sometimes obscure circumlocution ; thus, if rvirroixivos is rendered 
" one who is beaten," this might be understood to relate to what is 
past^ and complete (which would be reTvyifxivos) ; but it signifies prop- 
erly, though in uncouth English, one who is being beaten." The 
particular term I am now alluding to is ccaCofM^uoi : " The Lord added 
to the church daily such as should be saved ; " tovs crco^ofieyovs : (Acts 
ii. 47) the word rendered "such as should be saved" (a rendering 
which has perhaps led some readers who cannot, or do not, study the 
original, to suppose that absolute predestination is implied in this 
passage) signifies merely " persons coming into the way of salvation ; " 
namely, by embracing Christianity. 

It is to be observed, however, by the way, that there are many 
expressions in Scripture which do not even imply any full convic- 
tion in the writer's mind that a particular event will take place, or 
has taken place ; though, taken strictly, they might seem to imply this, 
and have, probably, been often so understood. Instances may be 
found, probably, in all languages, — but I think they are particularly 
common in Greek, — of the same terms being used in speaking of 
an object proposed, and of an object attained: a full design and at- 
tempt to do anything, is often expressed in the same manner as if it 
had been actually done. Thus, in the Ajax of Sophocles (to take 
an instance from a profane writer) Agamemnon charges Ajax with 
having murdered him ; that is, having done all that in him lay to 
accomplish that purpose, though his design was frustrated by extra- 
neous impediments. Thus, Paul says of himself (as our translation 
expresses it in Acts xxvi. 11) that he " compelled " (that is, was com" 
pelling, urged) the Christians to blaspheme, — not meaning to imply 
that they did so. And, indeed, nothing is more common in most of 
the ancient writers than to speak of a person's having done this or 



ON PERSEVEKxiNCE AND ASSURANCE. 



141 



that, that is, having heen doing it, — having formed the design, and 
actually set about it, though the attempt was stopped. In this sense 
the Lord is repeatedly said to have delivered the Israelites out of 
Egypt, to bring them into the land of Canaan, which he had prom- 
ised to their forefathers ; and yet the whole generation perished in 
the wilderness, through their own refusal, when summoned, to take 
possession of the promised land ; and a considerable portion of the 
promised land was never occupied even by their posterity, through 
their own neglect to drive out the nations whose territory had been 
allotted to them. In this case the positive and unqualified declara- 
tions of Scripture not only do not imply any compulsion exercised 
on the Israelites, but do not even imply a foreknowledge that the 
events would take place ; but merely that the Lord had performed 
Ms part, and had left it completely in their power to bring about the 
events in question. 

So, also, many of the expressions of the sacred writers, in which 
they speak of the holiness of life here and eternal life hereafter, pro- 
vided by the grace of God for those whom they are addressing, not 
only do not relate to any absolute predestination to reward or irre- 
sistible control of the will, but do not necessarily imply, according to 
a fair construction of the language, even so much as a perfect confi- 
dence in the writers that these objects will, in fact, be attained ; but 
merely that such is the design and tendency of the gospel dispensa- 
tion, — that God had placed these things within their reach.^ 

I am not contending, be it observed, that this absolute predestina- 
tion and irresistible grace may not, in fact^ be a part of the gospel 
scheme in the divine mind ; but only that no inference to that efiect 
can be fairly drawn from the words of the apostles. They may be 
truths, but they are not revealed truths ; they may belong to the 
gospel scheme^ but not to the gospel revelation. 



1 See the last Essay in this volume. 



ESSAY Y. 



ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 

There are very many passages relative to the Mosaic Law 
occurring in the writings of the Apostle Paul (especially in 
the Epistle to the Romans, and in those to the Galatians and 
to the Hebrews), whose most obvious and simple interpreta- 
tions at least would seem to imply the entire abolition of that 
law by the establishment of the gospel. For instance, Rom. 
vii. 6 : " But now we are delivered from the law, that being 
dead wherein we were held ; " — or, according to another, and 
perhaps better reading, which makes no material difference, 
" being dead to that law wherein we were held." And these 
passages constitute one class of those from which such perni- 
cious consequences have been sometimes deduced, and oftener, 
perhaps, apprehended, as have occasioned the writings of this 
apostle to be regarded by some persons with suspicion and 
alarm. A few, and but a few, have openly inferred — a greater 
number probably have incautiously led their hearers to infer — 
from Paul's declarations relative to our justification " by faith 
without the deeds of the law," that the Christian is under no 
obligation to the practice of virtue — nor incurs, if he be one 
of the elect, any spiritual danger from the commission of sin ; 
and the dread of this Antinomian system has occasioned others, 
as I have before remarked, to withdraw their own and their 
hearers ' attention, either from the writings of this apostle alto- 



ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 



143 



gether, or from those parts of them which are thought to coun- 
tenance such a doctrine. 

§ I. That the virtuous or vicious conduct of a Christian have 
nothing to do with his final salvation, and are 
indifferent in God's sight, has been inferred system supposed 
from total abrogation, under the gospel scheme, ^^Jy^ IXation 
of the Mosaic law; which abrogation, it is con- relative to the abo- 

o y lition of the law. 

tended, the apostle plainly declares, without any 
limitation or exception, — any distinction between moral and 
ceremoiiialj or civil precepts. On the other side is urged the 
strenuous and repeated inculcation of moral duties, not only by 
the other sacred writers, but by Paul himself as much as any ; 
together with his earnest and express denial of the licentious 
consequences which some might be disposed to infer from his 
doctrines. For instance, " What shall we say, then ? shall we 
continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!" And 
again, " Shall we sin because w^e are not under the law, but 
under grace ? God forbid I " And hence it is concluded that 
that abolition of the law which is spoken of relates only to the 
ceremonial and civil precepts ; and that the moral law remains 
binding on all men forever. 

But this mode of stating the case, though substantially cor- 
rect, leaves a considerable difficulty unsolved: it points out, 
indeed, the inconsistency of the Antinomian scheme wdth one 
portion of the apostle's writings ; but it leaves unexplained, 
and, consequently, open to unfavorable suspicion, the other 
portion before alluded to : it fails, in short, to reconcile the 
writer with himself. For, it cannot be denied that he does 
speak, frequently and strongly, of the termination of the Mosaic 
law, and of the exemption of Christians from its obligations, 
wdthout ever limiting and qualifying the assertion, — without 
even hinting at a distinction between one part w^hich is abroga- 



144 



WIIATELY'S ESSAYS. 



ted, and another which remains in full force. It cannot be said 
that he had in his mind the ceremonial law alone,^ and was 
alluding merely to the abolition of that ; for in the very passages 
in question he makes such allusions to sin as evidently show 
that he had the moral law in his mind ; as, for instance, where 
he says, "The law was added because of transgressions,"— 
" by the law was the knowledge of sin ; " with many other such 
expressions. And it is remarkable that even when he seems 
to feel himself pressed with the mischievous practical conse- 
quences which either had been, or he is sensible might be, 
drawn from his doctrines, he never attempts to guard against 
these by limiting his original assertion, — by declaring that 
though part of the law was at an end, still, part continued to 
be binding; but he always inculcates the necessity of moral 
conduct on some different ground. For instance, " What shall 
we say, then ? shall we continue in sin that grace may abound ? 
God forbid ! " lie does not then add that a part of the Mosaic 
law remains in force ; but urges this consideration, " How shall 
w^e, who are dead to sin, live any longer therein ? Know ye 
not, that so many of us as were baptized in Jesus Christ were 
baptized into his death ? Therefore we are buried with him 
by baptism into death ; that like as Christ was raised up from 
the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should 

walk in newness of life." " Knowing this, that our old 

man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be de- 
stroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sm" And again, 
" Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under 
grace ? God forbid ! Know ye not that to whom ye yield 
yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye 
obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto right- 
eousness ? " " being, then, made free from sin, ye became 

the servants of righteousness." And such, also, is his tone in 
every passage relating to the same subject. 

1 See Note A, at the end of this Essay. 



ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 



145 



§ 11. Now let us but adopt the obvious interpretation of the 
apostle's words, and admit the entire abroora- 

^ ^ Obligations of con- 

tion, according to him, of the Mosaic law, con- science not weat- 

iT . T. IP , ened by the Chris- 

cludmg that it was originaiij designed for the tian's freedom from 
Israelites alone, and that its dominion over them ^^^^^^^^ 
ceased when the gospel system was established, and we shall find 
that this concession does not go a step towards introducing the 
Antinomian conclusion that moral conduct is not required for 
Christians. For it is evident that the natural distinctions of 
right and wrong, which conscience points out, must remain 
where they were. These distinctions, not having been intro- 
duced by the Mosaic law, cannot, it is evident, be overthrown 
by its removal, any more than the destruction of the Temple 
at Jerusalem implied the destruction of the Mount Moriah 
whereon it was built. The apostle does indeed speak in some 
passages of the law as having been a guide and instructor in 
matters of morality ; as where he says, " I had not known sin 
but by the law ; " but that this must not be understood, in the 
fullest extent, as implying that no moral obligation could exist, 
or could be understood, independent of the Mosaic revelation, 
is evident, not only from the nature of the case, but from his 
own remarks in the same epistle relative to "the Gentiles, 
which have not the law, " being capable of " doing hy nature 
the things contained in the law .... their conscience also 
bearing witness, and their thoughts accusing or else excusing 
one another ; " and of their " knowing " (in cases where they 
committed sin) " that they who do such things are worthy of 
death." To say, therefore, that no part of the Jewish law is 
binding on Christians, is very far from leaving them at liberty 
to disregard all moral duties. For, in fact, the very definition 
of a moral duty implies its universal obligation independent 
of all enactment. The precepts respecting sacrifices, for in- 
stance, and other ceremonial observances, we call positive or- 
13 



146 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



dinances ; meaning, tliat the things in question became duties 
because they were commanded. The coinmandment to love one's 
neighbor as oneself, on the contrary, we call a moral precept, 
on the very ground that this was a thing commanded because it 
was right. And it is evident that what was right or wrong in 
itself before the law existed, must remain such after it is abro- 
gated. Before the commandments to do no murder, and to 
honor one's parents, had been delivered from Mount Sinai, 
Cain was cursed for killing his brother, and Ham for dishonor- 
ing his father ; which crimes, therefore, could not cease to be 
such, at least, as any consequence of the abolition of that law. 

Nor need it to be feared that to proclaim an exemption 
from the Mosaic law should leave men without any moral 
guide, and at a loss to distinguish right and wrong ; since, after 
all, the light of reason is that to which man must be left, in the 
interpretation of that very law. For Moses, it should be re- 
membered, did not write three distinct books, — one of the cere- 
monial law, one of the civil, and a third of the moral ; nor 
does he hint at any such distinction. When, therefore, any 
one is told that a part of the Mosaic precepts are binding on us, 
— namely, the moral ones, — if he ask which are the moral pre- 
cepts, and how to distinguish them from the ceremonial and the 
civil, with which they mingled, the answer must be, that his 
conscience, if he consult it honestly, will determine that point. 
So far, consequently, from the moral precepts of the law being, 
to the Christian, necessary as a guide to his judgment in de- 
termining what is right and wrong, on the contrary this moral 
judgment is necessary to determine what are the moral precepts 
of Moses. 

The study, indeed, of the moral law of Moses is profitable for 
instruction, and may serve to aid our judgment in some doubtful 
cases that may occur, provided we are careful to bear in mind 
all the circumstances under which each precept was delivered. 



ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 



147 



For there is a presumption^ that what was commanded or pro- 
hibited by Moses is right or wrong in itself, unless some reason 
can he assigned which makes our case at present different from 
that of the Israelites, — some circumstance of distinction, which 
either leaves us more at large than they, or (as is oftener the 
case) calls for a higher and purer moral practice from us. But 
to consult a code of moral precepts for instruction^ is very dif- 
erent from referring to that as a standard, and rule of conduct. 

If the notion, then, that such as are not under the Mosaic 
law, are, on that account, exempt from all moral obligations, 
be rejected as utterly groundless ; and if, consequently, no prac- 
tical danger or absurdity be involved in the supposition of that 
law being fully abrogated, the conclusion that it is so abrogated 
will hardly be any longer open to doubt ; being evidently the 
most agreeable to the apostle's expressions in their obvious, 
natural, and unrestrained sense.^ And, indeed, the very law 
itself indicates, on the face of it, that the whole of its precepts 
were intended for the Israelites exclusively (on which suppo- 
sition they cannot, of course, be, by their own authority, bind- 
ing on Christians) ; not only from the intermixture of civil and 
ceremonial precepts with moral, but from the very terms in 
which even these last are delivered. For instance, there can- 
not be any duties more clearly of universal obligation than that 
of the worship of the one true God alone, and that of honoring 

1 See Elements of Rhetoric: " Presumptions." 

2 I am inclined to believe that one reason which makes some persons reluctant 
to acknowledge the total abolition of the Mosaic law, is the notion that the 
sanctity of the " Christian Sabbath " depends on the fourth commandment, and 
that, consequently, the reverence due to the Lord's Day would be destroyed, or 
impaired by our admitting the Ten Commandments to be no longer binding. 
But a little reflection will satisfy any candid mind that there is no ground for 
any such suspicion, and that all the various opinions respecting the Lord's Day, 
however reconcilable with each other, are all perfectly reconcilable with the 
belief of the abrogation of the Mosaic law.— On this point I have offered some 
remarks in Note B, at the end of this Essay. 



148 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



parents ; yet the precepts for both of these are so delivered as 
to address them to the children of Israel exclusively : " I am 
the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt ^ 
out of the house of bondage ; thou shalt have none other gods 
but me." And again, " Honor thy father and thy mother, 
that thy days may he long in the land which the Lord thy God 
giveth thee^ 

The simplest and clearest way, then, of stating the case with 
respect to the present question, is, to lay down, on the one hand, 
that the Mosaic law was limited both to the nation of the Israel- 
ites, and to the period before the gospel ; but, on the other 
hand, that the natural principles of morality, which (among 
other things) it inculcates, are, from their own character, of 
universal obligation, — that as, on the one hand, " no Christian 
man [as our Article expresses it] is free from the observance of 
those commandments which are called moral," so, on the other 
hand, it is not because they are commandments of the Mosaic 
law that he is bound to obey them, but because they are moral. 
Indeed, there are numerous precepts in the laws, for instance, 
of Solon and Mahomet, from a conformity to which no Chris- 
tian can pretend to exemption ; yet, though we are bound to 
practise almsgiving, and several other duties there enjoined, 
and to abstain from murder, for instance, and false-witness — 
which these lawgivers forbid — no one would say that a part of 
the Koran is binding on Christians ; since their conduct is de- 
termined, not by the authority of the Koran, but by the nature 
of the case. 



§ III. The remarks, however, which have been offered, may 
Importance of p^rhaps bc admitted as just, by some who will 
on'a right" disposcd to doubt their importance : " The 

proposed statement," they may say, "of the 
character of a Christian's moral obligations, differs from the 



ON THE ABOLITIO:^^ OF THE LAW. 



149 



one opposed to it, merely as a statement ; there is substantially 
no difference, as long as it is fully admitted that the Christian is 
not exempt from the rules of morality." But it should be re- 
membered that the difference between an accurate and an inac- 
curate statement of any doctrine, and of the grounds on which it 
rests, is of no slight importance, if not to those who embrace 
the doctrine, at least in reference to such as are disposed to 
reject or to doubt it. It is giving a manifest advantage to the 
advocates of error, to maintain a true conclusion in such a form, 
and on such grounds, as leave it open to unanswerable objec- 
tions. And this has been particularly the case in the present 
instance ; for the only shadow of probability which has ever 
appeared to exist on the Antinomian side, has arisen from the 
question having been made to turn on this point, whether the 
Mosaic law be entirely abolished, or not. One who denies that 
it is, cannot but find a difficulty, at least, in reconciling his 
position with many passages of Scripture ; whereas, if we ad- 
mit the premise which the Antinomians contend for, but show 
how utterly unconnected it is with their extravagant conclu- 
sion, — if we show that, though the Mosaic law does not bind 
us, our moral obligations exist quite independent of that law, — 
the monstrous position that the moral conduct of Christians 
has nothing to do with their final doom is at once exposed as 
totally untenable and absurd. 

§ IV. It may be thought, however, that real, decided specula- 
tive Antinomians are so rare, and, moreover, are 

Speculative less 

so far beyond the reach of sober reasoning, that common than prac- 

, tical Antinomians. 

it IS scarcely worth while to devise arguments 
for their refutation. And it must be admitted that the doc- 
trines in question are not at all prevalent — a circumstance 
which is very remarkable, and strongly indicates their intrin- 
sic improbability ; for a system so evidently favorable to the 
13* 



150 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



natural indolence and sinfulness of man as that which makes 
our eternal destiny entirely independent of our moral conduct, 
could not have failed to become highly popular, among a large 
class at least, were it not utterly repugnant to reason. A 
frightfully large portion of the world are, undeniably, practical 
Antinomians ; that is, they live as if they did not expect to be 
hereafter accountable for their conduct; and yet it will be 
found that, in theory, very few of these adopt the Antinomian 
hypothesis, which would be the most effectual in quieting the 
conscience of the sinner — a circumstance which furnishes most 
powerful testimony against the truth of that hypothesis. 

But however small may be the danger of the Antinomian 
heresy gaining ground, the right interpretation of Scripture 
relative to this point is not, therefore, the less important. 
The opinion that the gospel exempts men from moral obliga- 
gation is not the error which I have principally in view, but 
another, much more prevalent, — that of suspecting that Paul 
lends some support to such an opinion ; and, consequently, of 
deprecating the authority, or discouraging the study, of his 
writings. It is on this account chiefly that I have endeavored 
to show, in this and two former Essays, how far this apostle 
is from affording any countenance to certain doctrines, the 
advocates of which usually appeal to his authority. 

But another (and perhaps still more important) use may be 
made of the view which has been now taken. The apostle, 
we find, while he earnestly contends for the entire abolition of 
the Mosaic law, still recognizes the authority of that moral 
law which is written on man's heart. This consideration not 
only deprives Antinomians of all shadow of support for their 
system, and removes the prejudice which might exist against 
the apostle, but it also leads us to reflect on his method of 
inculcating moral duties, and on his reasons for adopting it. 



ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 



151 



If men are taught to regard the Mosaic law (with the ex- 
ception of the civil and ceremonial ordinances) 

Liability of men 

as their appointed rule of life, they will be dis- to content them- 

. . selves ^vith a literal 

posed to lower the standard oi Christian morality, observance of ex- 
by co7itentmg themselves with a literal adherence to ^^^^^ commands. 
the express commands of that law ; or, at least, merely to enlarge 
that code, by the addition of such precise moral precepts as they 
find distinctly enacted in the New Testament. Now this v/as 
very far from being the apostle's view of the Christian life. Not 
only does the gospel require a morality in many respects 
higher and more perfect in itself than the law, but it places 
morality, universally, on higher grounds. Instead of precise 
rules^ it furnishes sublime principles of conduct ; leaving the 
Christian to apply these, according to his own discretion, in 
each case that may arise, and thus to be " a law unto himself." 
Gratitude for the redeeming love of God in Christ, with min- 
gled veneration and affection for the person of our great 
Waster,^ and an exalted emulation, leading us to tread in his 
steps, — an ardent longing to behold his glories, and to enjoy his 
presence in the world to come, with an earnest effort to pre- 
pare for that better world, — love towards our brethren for His 
sake who died for us and them, — and, above all, the thought 
that the Christian is a part of " the temple^ of the Holy Ghost," 
who dwelleth in the church, even the spirit of Christ, with- 
out which we are none of his," a temple which we are bound 
to keep undefiled, — these, and such as these, are the gospel 
principles of morality, into a conformity with which the Chris- 
tian is to fashion his heart and his life; and they are such 
principles as the Mosaic dispensation could not furnish. The 
Israelites, as not only living under a revelation which had but 
a shadow of the good things of the gospel, but also as a dull, 
and gross-minded, and irapei^ectly civilized people, in a condi- 

1 See Essay III., First Series. 2 See Bishop Hinds's Three Temples. 



152 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



tion corresponding to that of childhood, were in few things left 
to their own moral discretion, but were furnished with precise 
rules in most points of conduct. These answered to the exact 
regulations under which children are necessarily placed, and 
which are gradually relaxed as they advance towards maturity : 
not at all on the ground that good conduct is less required of 
men than of children ; but that they are expected to be more 
capable of regulating their own conduct by their own discretion, 
and of acting upon principle. 

§ V. When, then, the Mosaic code was abolished, we find no 
Principles sub- othcr systcm of rules substituted in its place. 
^ZlTihl g^spe'l Our Lord and his apostles enforced such duties 
dispensation. ^^rc the most liable to be neglected, — cor- 

rected some prevailing errors, — gave some particular direc- 
tions which particular occasions called for, — but laid down 
no set of rides for the conduct of a Christian. They laid down 
Christian principles instead ; they sought to implant Christian 
dispositions. And this is the more remarkable, inasmuch as 
we may be sure, from the nature of man, that precise regula- 
tions, even though somewhat tedious to learn, and burdensome 
to observe, would have been highly acceptable to their con- 
verts.^ Hardly any restraint is so irksome to man (that is, to 
" the natural man ") as to be left to his own discretion, yet 
still required to regulate his conduct according to certain prin- 
ciples, and to steer his course through the intricate channels of 
life, with a constant vigilant exercise of his moral judgment. 
It is much more agreeable to human indolence (though at first 
sight the contrary might be supposed) to have a complete sys- 

1 If the Sermon on the Mount, for instance, had been three times as long, and 
had consisted, not, as it does, of a delineation of Christian dispositions, but of a 
catalogue of minute directions for particular cases, it would doubtless have been 
more satisfactory to the hearers. But for some further remarks on our Lord's 
mode of conveying moral instruction, see Essay VII. 



ON THE ABOLITIOiT OF THE LAW. 



153 



tern of laws laid down, — which are to be observed according to 
the letter, not to the spirit, and which, as long as a man ad- 
heres to them, afford both a consolatory assurance of safety 
and an unrestrained liberty as to every point not determined 
by them, — than to be called upon for incessant watchfulness, 
careful and candid self-examination, and studious cultivation 
of certain moral dispositions. 

Accordingly, most, if not all systems of man's devising 
(whether corruptions of Christianity, or built Tendency to pre- 
on any other foundation), will be found, even in Zr^t^^^Z 
what appear their most rigid enactments, to be Beif-government. 
accommodated to this tendency of the human heart. When Ma- 
homet, for instance, enjoined on his disciples a strict fast during a 
certain period, and an entire abstinence from wine and from 
games of chance, and the devotion of a precise portion of their 
property to the poor, — leaving them at liberty, generally, to fol- 
low their own sensual and worldly inclinations, — he imposed a 
far less severe task on them than if he had required them con- 
stantly to control their appetites and passions, to repress covet- 
ousness, and to be uniformly temperate, charitable, and heavenly- 
minded. And had Paul been (as a false teacher always will 
be) disposed to comply with the expectations and wishes which 
his disciples would naturally form, he would doubtless have 
referred them to some part of the Mosaic law as their standard 
of morality, or would have substituted some other system of 
rules in its place. Indeed, there is a strong reason to think, 
especially from what we find in 1 Corinthians) that some- 
thing of this nature had actually been desired of him. He 
seems to have been applied to for more precise rules than he 
was willing to give, particularly as to the lawfulness of going 
to idol feasts, and as to several points relative to marriage and 
celibacy — concerning which, and other matters, he gives briefly 
such directions as the occasion rendered indispensable, but 



154 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



breaks off into exhortations to " use this world as not abusing 
it," and speedily recurs to the general description of the Chris- 
tian character, and the inculcation of Christian principles. 
He will not be induced to enter into minute details of things 
forbidden and permitted, enjoined and dispensed with ; and 
even when most occupied in repelling the suspicion that gospel 
liberty exempts the Christian from moral obligation, instead of 
retaining or framing anew any system of prohibitions and in- 
junction^, he urges upon his hearers the very consideration of 
their being exempt from any such childish trammels as a reason 
for their aiming at a more perfect holiness of life, on purer and 
more generous motives. " Sin," he says, " shall not have domin- 
ion over you ; for ye are not under the law^ hat under grace ; " 
and he perpetually incites them to walk " worthy of their voca- 
tion," on the ground of their being " bought with a price," and 
bound to "live unto Him who died for them ;"— "as risen with 
Christ " to a new life of holiness, ' — exhorted to " set their 
affections on things above, not on things on the earth ; " — as 
" living sacrifices " to God ; — as " the temple of the Holy 
Ghost," called upon to keep God's dwelling-place undefiled, 
and to abound in all " the fruits of the Spirit ; " — and as " being 
delivered from the law, that we should serve in newness of the 
spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." 

He who seeks, then (as many are disposed to do), either in 
the Old Testament or in the New for a precise code of laws 
by which to regulate his conduct, mistakes the character of our 
religion. It is indeed an error, and a ruinous one, to think 
that we may " continue in sin, because we are not under the 
law but under grace ; " but it is also an error, and a far com- 
moner one, to inquire of the Scriptures, in each case that may 
occur, what we are sti^ictly bound to do or to abstain from, and 
to feel secure as long as we transgress no distinct command- 
ment. But he who seeks with sincerity for Christian jprinci- 



ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 



155 



pies will not fail to find them. If we endeavor, through the 
aid of the Holy Spirit, to trace on our own heart the delineation 
of the Christian character which the Scriptures present, and to 
conform all our actions and words and thoughts to that char- 
acter, our heavenly Teacher will enable us to " have a right 
judgment in all things ; " and we shall be " led by the Spirit " 
of Christ to follow his steps, and to " purify ourselves even as 
he is pure," that, "when he shall appear, we may be made 
like unto him, and may behold him as he is." 



156 



WIIATELY'S ESSAYS. 



NOTES TO ESSAY V. 



Note A — Page 144. 

It appears plainly from the Acts and from the Epistles that the 
Jewish Christians continued to adhere to the observances and rules 
of the Levitical law as national customs ; and they did so down to 
the time, probably, of the taking of Jerusalem and final overthrow 
of the Jewish polity. (See Acts xviii. 18, and xxi. 24.) 

To some it has appeared a difficulty to understand why the Apos- 
tle Paul in particular should have not merely allowed this, but ap- 
parently even made a point of it, while at the same time, so far from 
insisting on the Gentile converts observing the ceremonial law, he 
earnestly protested against their doing so. To them he declared 
that " if they were circumcised [denoting, I conceive, by that word, 
the observance, generally, of the ceremonial law] Christ profited 
them nothing ; " while, on the other hand, he himself made an open 
display of his strict compliance with the customs and observances of 
his people. 

Some might at first sight be led to expect that the principle he lays 
down — " in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avail eth any thing, 
nor uncircumcision, but a new creature " — - would have led him to 
disregard altogether the whole question respecting the ceremonial 
law, and to leave all men to their own judgment or inclination. 

But on more attentive reflection we shall perceive the admirable 
wisdom of his procedure, and its exact conformity with the above 
principle. The ceremonial observances of the law being a matter 
of perfect indifference as far as the gospel is concerned, — neither 
a part of it, nor contrary to it, — the only way of practically com- 
plying with this principle, was, that, in respect of such observances, 
every one should remain just as he had been before; neither adopting 
nor discontinuing, on becoming a Christian, national customs which 
Christianity neither enjoins nor forbids, — should continue [as the 
apostle expresses it] in his vocation wherein he was called." (See 
Hinds's History of the Rise of Christianity.) 

If those who had been accustomed, for instance, to eat all kinds 
of meats had begun, on becoming Christians, to abstain from swine's 



ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 



157 



flesh, etc., this would have implied that that abstinence, and other such 
observances, were regarded by them as a part of Christianity ; it 
would have implied their attributing some justifying efficacy to these 
" works of the law." And the apostle reprobates, accordingly, such 
an error as most pernicious and unchristian ; saying that he who 
seeks this justification is " fallen from grace " (namely, the grace of 
the gospel), and that Christ is become of none effect to him." But 
if, again, any one who was a Jew by nation had departed from their 
customs on becoming a Christian, he would have implied a belief 
that those national customs were something contrary to Christian- 
ity, — that there was some Christian virtue in the opposite customs. 
Now this would have been no less an error than the other ; for the 
eating, for instance, of swine's flesh, was no more a part of Christian- 
ity than the abstaining from it. 

And there was the more need, it may be added, to guard against 
the latter of these two errors, on account of the prevalence at that 
time of the heresy of the Gnostics, who taught that the Mosaic law 
was not of divine origin, but devised either by an evil, or by an infe- 
rior and fallible being (the Demiourgos), and therefore deserving of 
abhorrence or contempt. 

When, indeed, the city and temple had been finally destroyed by 
the Eomans, and the people dispersed, then, and from thenceforward 
down to the present day, there was no longer the same reason for 
converted Jews to adhere to those observances which could no 
longer be regarded as national customs (the national polity being 
entirely subverted), but rather as badges of a religious persuasion. 
But during the subsistence of that polity, the example and the ad- 
vice of the apostles tended to leave all Christians, Jew and Gentile, 
each " in his vocation wherein he was called ; " neither discontinuing 
nor adopting any customs that were, as far as regards Christianity, 
matters of perfect indifference. 

The most anxious care was taken, and the most admirable wisdom 
evinced, in guarding men against mixing up with gospel truth any- 
thing — no matter what — that is no part of it ; and in warning them 
of the several superstitions which, though seemingly opposite, were 
essentially the same. 

Note B— Page 147. 

Several different opinions are to be met with as to the ground on 
which the observance of the Lord's Day should be maintained ; none 
14 



158 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



of which, however, — though they cannot all be correct, — are in 
reality at variance with what has been said respecting the abrogation 
of the Levitical law. 

In the former editions I entered into an examination of these sev- 
eral opinions, and a defense of the one which appears to me the best 
founded ; and was thus led into a discussion, not, I trust, unprofita- 
ble, but longer than I had originally designed, or than was perhaps 
warranted by the degree of connection it had with the immediate 
subject of the Vth Essay. That dissertation being now separately 
published under the title of Thoughts on the Sabbath, I have judged 
it best to refer my readers to it for a fuller examination of the several 
questions that have been raised ; confinmg the present Note chiefly to 
the one point more immediately relating to the subject now before 
us ; namely, that (as has been already said) none of the prevailing 
opinions, however irreconcilable with each other, are necessarily at 
variance with the doctrine that the obligations of the Levitical law 
are at an end. 

The several opinions respecting the grounds of the observance of 
the Lord's Day may be classed under four heads : 

1. Some hold that the Lord's Day is essentially a Christian festival, 
observed in conformity with the practice of the apostles and of their 
followers in every Christian church from their time downwards ; that 
it agrees with the Jewish Sabbath only inasmuch as it is observed 
on one day in every seven, agreeably to the division of time into 
weeks, derived from the Jews, the nation in which Christianity orig- 
inated ; but that it differs from the Jewish Sabbath in being observed 
on a different day of the week, on a different authority, in a dif- 
ferent manner, and in commemoration of a different event,^ — the 
resurrection of the Lord Jesus on the first day of the week 

2. Some hold that the Lord's Day is observed on the authority, not 
of the fourth commandment, but of a precept delivered to all mankind 
at the creation, and which is alluded to in the beginning of Genesis. 

3. The observance of Sunday as a Christian Sabbath is by some 
persons derived from the Mosaic law, on the ground of its being 
one of the moral precepts of that law. 

1 The universal observance among Christians, in distant ages and countries, 
and differing in so many points of doctrine and practice, of some Christian fes- 
tivals,— such as Christmas Day, Good Friday, and the Lord's Day,— is in many 
points of view a most interesting fact. 



ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 



159 



4. Lastly, some maintain that the fourth commandment, as a pos- 
itive precept, is binding on Christians ; but that the duties and obli- 
gations pertaining originally to the seventh day were transferred by 
the authority of the apostles to the first day ; — in short, that they 
changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. 

Now, each of these different opinions will be found on reflection 
to be perfectly reconcilable with what I have maintained relative 
to the abrogation of the Mosaic law. 

1. With respect to the first of these opinions this is obvious. A 
festival peculiarly and exclusively Christian cannot be in any way 
affected — any more than the ordinance of the Lord's Supper — by 
the abolition of the law of Moses. 

2. The same may be said of the second of the opinions noticed, A 
command delivered at the creation to the whole human race cannot 
be affected by the abolition of a law delivered many ages afterwards 
to the one nation of Israel. 

3. A moral precept, again, must, by its own character — because it 
is a moral precept — be binding on all men, in every age and coun- 
try, independent of any enactment. 

4. And those who hold that the obligations of the Sabbath were 
transferred by the apostles from Saturday to Sunday, — though their 
doctrine is extremely liable to be so understood as to imply that the 
Mosaic law is not abrogated, — yet may perceive on attentive re- 
flection that this conclusion does not necessarily follow. For this 
(supposed) transfer of the Sabbath by the apostles would plainly 
amount to a reenaciment by the divine authority of those apostles ; 
so that the Christian Sabbath, being thus made to depend on tJieir 
command, cannot be affected by the abrogation of the Levitical law. 
We all know that when, in secular matters, some law is repealed 
by a subsequent act, which declares at the same time that such and 
such a clause of the former law shall, under certain modifications, 
continue in force, then the clause so modified is binding by virtue of 
the very act which repealed the original law. Any alteration, there- 
fore, made by the apostles in the Jewish Sabbath (namely, as to the 
day and the mode of the observance) plainly amounts to an institution 
by tliem of the Christian Sabbath. 

Now, the authority of an apostolical institution no one can con- 
sider as weakened by the abrogation of the Mosaic law. 

The doctrine in question, however, — though the above is, I think, 
the fairest way of considering it, — yet is liable (as has been just ob- 



160 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



served) to be so understood — and, I believe, often is so understood 
— as to nullify all that I have urged respecting the entire abrogation 
of the Mosaic law, and to establish a principle which, if consistently 
followed out, would go to subject Christians to all the obligations of 
that law. 

I. The first of the opinions alluded to, — that which places the ob- 
servance of the Lord's Day wholly on a Christian foundation, — has 
a strong presumption in its favor from its general prevalence among 
Christians, — even those most widely separated from each other, not 
only in age and country, but also in their opinions and practices m 
several other points. With scarcely any exception but that of a 
portion — certainly a considerable portion — of the inhabitants of 
these Islands (and of their American descendants) for about the last 
two centuries, the opinion I now advert to has been the prevailing 
one throughout the whole Christian world, in every age and country. 
This does not indeed amount to more than a very strong presump- 
tion of the soundness of the doctrine ; but that it should have been 
represented as not only unsound, but novel and singular, is quite 
unaccountable. 

Of the later divines who have taken this view, the best known is 
Dr. Paley, whose Moral Philosophy is in the hands of almost every 
educated person in the empire. Of our earlier divines, — the Re- 
formers of our church and those who lived near their times, — there 
were scarcely any who took any other view than that I am now ad- 
verting to ; which, indeed, was in those days so little disputed that 
most of those writers implied, by their silence on the subject, or their 
slight and incidental allusions to it, that they did not consider the 
doctrine as requiring to be defended, or even formally stated. For 
example, throughout the whole of our Liturgy and Rubric 
the word SahhatJi never once occurs. Our Reformers, there is every 
reason to believe, concurred in taking the same view of the obliga- 
tion of the fourth commandment as is set forth in the Catechism 
extant under the name of Archbishop Cranmer, published in the be- 
ginning of the reign of Edward the Sixth : " The Jews, in the Old 
Testament, were commanded to keep the Sabbath-day; and they 
observed it every seventh day, called the Sabbat, or Satterday. But 
we Christian men in the New Testament are not bound to such 
commandments of Moses' law," etc. etc. 

The reader who would examine further the opinions on this point 
of our early divines, is referred to Dr. Ileyllii's History of the Sab- 



ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 



161 



bath, Baxter's Practical Works (p. 764), Bishop Taylor's Ductor 
Dubitantium, Bishop Sanderson's Cases of Conscience, Bishop Bram- 
hall's Dissertation, etc. 

II. In reference to the second of the opinions above noticed, Tvhich 
rests the obligation of observing the Lord's Day on a command given 
at the creation, I so far agree with it as to think it highly probable 
that some Sabbatical institution in memory of the creation existed in 
the patriarchal times. It must have been indeed something less strict 
than the Mosaic ordinance, else the Sabbaths could not have been 
" a SIGN between the Lord and the people of Israel," distinguishing 
them from the other nations ; but that some kind of observance of 
the seventh day existed prior to the Mosaic law, is a conclusion 
reasonably to be drawn (though not to be insisted on as a necessary 
article of faith) from the wide diffusion of the custom of dividing 
time into weeks, even among the Pagans, whose religion was a cor- 
ruption of the patriarchaL Even in the agreement of several differ- 
ent nations in dedicating each day of the week to some one of their 
false gods, some trace may be perceived of the true origin of the 
hebdomadal division.^ 

But the question is rather speculative than practical. The precept, 
if any such was originally delivered, of observing the last day of the 
week as a Sabbath, in memory of the close of the creation, never in 
fact has been observed by Christians, with the exception of a very 
small number, in the early churches, of men who were tinctured 
with Judaism. And if a law designed to be universal and perpetual 
had been delivered, God would surely never have left it to be in- 
ferred by uncertain conjecture, but would have plainly recorded it. 
To leave men in doubt what their obligations are, is always reckoned 
one of the most inexcusable blunders in legislation, and such as it 
would be profane to attribute to the Deity. The very notion of a 
probable law, emanating from a perfectly wise and good Being, may 
fairly be regarded as a contradiction in terms. 

III. As for those who represent the fourth commandment as a 
part of the moral law, and the observance of the Lord's Day as a 
fulfilment of it, they appear, if I understand their meaning (of which, 

1 It seems not unlikely that the dedication, among so many different nations, 
of the first day of the week to the sun, may be a trace of the commemoration 
of the day on which " God said, Let there be light.'''' And again, Saturn, to 
whom the seventh day was dedicated, is- generally described by Pagan writers 
as connected with a reign of peaceful repose, — of universal and unbroken rest. 



162 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



however, I am not certain), not so much to hold any peculiar doc- 
trine, as to employ their terms in a peculiar and unusual sense ; in- 
troducing needless indistinctness and perplexity by the want of a 
precise mode of expression. The distinction between moral (that is, 
natural) precepts and positive precepts (see Essay Y. § 11.) is too 
well established, and too convenient, to be lightly departed from. It 
is morally right to obey the just commands of a lawful superior, even 
in matters originally indifferent ; but still we should distinguish these 
from things not originally indifferent. A Jew was bound, for in- 
stance, both to honor his parents, and also to worship at Jerusalem; 
but the former was commanded because it was right, and the latter 
was right because it was commanded.^ 

Now it is plain that the observance of one day in seven rather 
than one in six, or one in eight, or in ten, and the observance of the 
last day of the week rather than the first or the second, must be — 
independently of any positive ordinance — a matter of indifference. 

But what is usually meant, I believe, by those who reckon the 
Observance of the Sabbath as a part of the moral (that is, natural) 
law, is merely that it is a moral duty to devote a certain portion of 
time (whether a certain hour in each day, or certain dai/s, or certain 
weeks or months) to devotion and religious study ; though the spec- 
ification of particulars is a matter of positive enactment. In this 
sense the statement is true ; and it is equally true in the same sense 
that the Levitical sacrifices were, and that the ordinance of the 
eucharist is, a part of the moral law; since natural conscience 
teaches the duty of worshipping God, though not the particular 
mode of worship. 

lY. Lastly, the opinion of those who hold that the fourth com- 
mandment is binding on Christians, but that the Sabbath was trans- 
ferred by the apostles from the last day of the week to the first, 
although, as I have said, it is not, when fairly considered, at variance 
with the doctrine of the general abolition of the Mosaic law, — since 
such a transfer by the apostolic authority would plainly amount to a 
reenactment by the apostles of that particular ordinance so modi- 
fied, — yet I must say that I can see no plausible grounds for the 
opinion.^ 

1 See Lessons on Morals, L. II. 

2 When Latin was the common language of the greatest part of Christendom, 
"Dies Sabbati^^ seems to have been the ordinary designation of Saturday; 



ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 



163 



The Mosaic law of the Sabbath was delivered very plainly and 
publicly, with special solemnity, and with such particularity as to 
forbid expressly the kindling of a fire (Ex. xxxv. 2, 3). Any trans- 
ferrence, therefore, of the ordinance from one day to another, or 
any other modification of it, we might have expected to find intro- 
duced with no less plainness, solemnity, and precision, and not left to 
be inferred from any incidental hints or traditional interpretations. 
But we find not only no express enactment, or even hint or tradi- 
tion of the kind, but the very contrary. We find in the book of Acts 
the Sabbath continually mentioned, always as the Jewish Sabbath, 
and always as an ordinance regularly observed (in common with the 
other precepts of the Levitical law) by the apostles and the rest of 
the Jewish Christians ; and this at the very time when, it is plain, 
they were actually observing the Lord's Day as a day of Christian 
worship ; assembling " the disciples on the first day of the week to 
break bread" (that is, to celebrate the eucharist), — those very Gen- 
tile disciples whom Paul exhorts to " let no man judge them in meat 
or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the 
Sabbath-days, which are a shadow of things to come ; but the body 
is of Christ." 

We find, in short, the most ample evidence of the observance of 
the Lord's Day, as a Christian festival, by the apostles and their 
immediate converts, whose example has been followed by all Chris- 
tian churches down to this day ; but that in so doing they conceived 
themselves to be observing a precept of the Levitical law, and that 
they taught the doctrine of a transfer of the Sabbath from one day 
to another, we find not only no evidence, but every conceivable 
evidence to the contrary. 

I am therefore much at a loss to understand how any one can 
really entertain a doubt on the question who does but read the ^Jew 
Testament with attention, and with an unprejudiced mind; even 
without consulting as an interpreter that Liturgy which is usually 
regarded as our church's commentary on the Scriptures, as far as 
regards the main points of Christian doctrine and duty. 

But many persons, not generally uninquiring or uncandid or in- 
competent to reason accurately, have yet been so early accustomed 

which is stil] so called in those official documents in our own country — such as 
the daily reports of the proceedings of parliament — in which the Latin language 
is retained in the dates. And accordingly Saturday is called in Italian " Sah- 
bato," and in Spanish " Sabbado." 



164 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



to take for granted, and assent to on authority, certain particular 
points, that they afterwards adhere to the belief so formed rather 
from association than on evidence. And some, again, through the 
influence of a feeling which I have described in Essay I. § V.when 
inculcating what they are conscientiously convinced is a duty, are so 
fearful of unsettling the minds (as the phrase is) of their hearers, 
that, rather than use any argument, which, though valid, might startle 
and revolt popular prejudices, they will avail themselves of such 
as they know will be readily admitted, though really unsound : some- 
times even cautioning their hearers (as I know to have been done in 
respect of the present question) against reading anything on the 
other side. 

They probably satisfy themselves with the consideration that the 
great point being to bring men to a right practical conclusion, it is a 
matter of comparatively small moment how they get it. And it may> 
I am sensible, seem to many that it is a mere speculative question, 
on what the observance of the Christian Sabbath is made to depend, 
as long as all Christians are practically agreed that it shall be ob- 
served, and observed on the same day of the week, — the first, — 
and observed in a different manner from that prescribed to the 
Jews ; who were forbidden, among other things, to kindle a fire, etc. 

Now this practical agreement does certainly make any hostile 
bitterness on such a question doubly unjustifiable, and aggravates 
greatly the culpability of any slanderous misrepresentation of the 
doctrine maintained. I cannot, however, but consider it as practically 
very dangerous to admit a principle that may encourage men to take 
liberties with any divine commandment which they confess to be 
binding on them, and to modify it according to human tradition, or 
any kind of human authority. And such a danger cannot but be 
incurred, if we teach them that the Mosaic law of the Sabbath is 
binding on Christians, while we also teach them that they are obey- 
ing it by observing a different day from the one which that law 
appoints, in a different manner, and in memory of a different 
event. And it is every way desirable that they should be taught 
not only in practice to observe the Lord's Day, but also in princi- 
ple ; to observe it, not as an ordinance enjoined by the Mosaic law, 
— which in fact it is not — nor as deriving its obligation, even if 
it were enjoined there from a law which the apostle assures us 
does not bind Christians, — but on the reasonable and true grounds 



ON THE ABOLITION OF THE LAW. 



165 



"which I have endeavored to point out in the foregoing pages, — as 
a Christian festival. 

For a fuller elucidation of this subject than would be suitable to 
the present occasion, the reader is referred to the treatise already 
mentioned, — Thoughts on the Sabbath, — and also (besides the 
authors above cited) to Bishop Kaye's Selections from the Works of 
Justin, and to a well-written review of the same in No. X. of the 
British Critic ; to the Remains of Bishop Copleston, lately published ; 
to several parts of Augustine and the other early Fathers when treat- 
ing of the Decalogue ; and to Calvin's Institutes (lib. ii. ch. 8). There 
is also an article on the word Sabbath in the Encyclop. Metrop. 
which may be worth consulting, as it sets forth very clearly all (per- 
haps more than all) that can be urged with any show of plausibility 
on the side which it professes to favor ; and, though only a part, yet 
probably enough to satisfy an intelligent and candid reader of the 
reasons on the opposite side. 



ESSAY YI 



ON IMPUTED EIGHTEOUSNESS. 

The importance of obtaining correct, and avoiding erroneous 
notions respecting any point of doctrine, is not always to be 
measured by the intrinsic importance of the doctrine itself, or 
by the practical consequences immediately resulting from this 
or that view of it. No error can be considered as harmless 
and insignificant w^hich tends to put a stumbling-block in the 
way of believers in the gospel, and to afibrd to infidels or her- 
etics the advantage of a plausible objection against its truths. 
The genuine and fundamental doctrines of Christianity may 
become liable to the scoffs of some, and to the dread or disre- 
gard of others, from their supposed connection with such as 
are in fact no part of the gospel revelation. It then becomes 
a matter of importance to rectify even those mistakes which are 
in themselves of no moment ; since we thus (to use once more 
the expression of Dr. Paley) " relieve Christianity of a weight 
that sinks it." God forbid that the Christian should deny or 
explain away anything that is a part of his faith, for the sake 
of moderating the hostility or escaping the scorn that may be 
directed against it ; but as little is he authorized needlessly to 
expose his religion to that hostility or scorn by maintaining, 
or allowing to be maintained, as a part of the Christian revela- 
tiont any tenet (however intrinsically true) which the Scrip- 
tures do not warrant. The same authority which forbids us to 



ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 



167 



" diminish aught " from the word of God, forbids us also to 
" add thereto/' 

That the Apostle Paul's authority in particular has been 
appealed to in support of several conclusions which are in fact 
not taught by him, I have already endeavored to show, princi- 
pally with a view to the removal of that dread or neglect of his 
writings which has too often been the result. 

§ I. Another doctrine, or set of doctrines rather, there is, in 
support of which this apostle's authority is prin- 

11 n 1 1 1 • 1 1 • f ^ ^ Statement of the 

cipally referred to, and which, being (whether doctrine of the im- 

T T, ,v 111 putation of Adara'a 

deservedly or not) regarded by many with sus- transgression, and 
picion and alarm, or with disgust and contempt, chSr^'''' 
has thus proved a source of objection, either to 
the gospel scheme altogether, or to the teaching of Paul in 
particular, of which such tenets have been supposed to form a 
part. I allude to the doctrine of " imputed sin " and " imputed 
righteousness," as set forth by some writers who represent it as 
the very keystone of the Christian system. 

I purposely abstain from referring to any authors in particu- 
lar, because the proper character of a calm inquiry after truth, 
is so liable to be lost in that of a controversy with some indi- 
vidual or party ; and the discussion of any question thus be- 
comes, though more interesting perhaps to some minds, yet less 
edifying ; since, after all, the object ultimately proposed should 
be, not the confutation of this or that theologian, but the ascer- 
tainment of the genuine doctrines of our religion ; which must 
rest, not on any merely human authority, but on that of the 
Holy Scriptures. 

The system at present in question, as far as I have been 
able to collect its import, may be briefly stated thus : That 
w^hen our first parents had fallen from their state of innocence,^ 

1 Some writers speak of man as being, before the eating of the forbidden fruit, 



168 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



they transmitted to all their posterity (over and above the 
proneness to sin which we are born with, and our liability to nat- 
ural death) the guilt also of the actual transgression committed 
by Adam ; this being imputed to every one of his posterity. 
For he, it is said, being the federal head or representative of 
the whole human species, his act is considered as theirs, to all 
intents and purposes ; and each descendant of Adam is consid- 
ered by his Almighty Judge as actually guilty, from his birth, 
of the very sin of having eaten of the forbidden fruit ; and is, 
for that sin, sentenced not merely to undergo natural death, but 
also everlasting punishment in the next world, independently 
of any sins committed by himself. 

This is not, indeed, always the sense in which the imputation 
of Adam's sin to his posterity, and their consequent punish- 
ment, are spoken of. There are some who understand by the 
expression, merely the forfeiture of immortality, — the liability 
to temporal death ; though it is perhaps rather an incorrect 
use of language to apply the term punishment to the absence 
of that immortality which was never ours. The human race, 
indeed, taken collectively, so as to include our first parents, 
may be said to have lost immortal life ; but each individual of 
their posterity, being born mortal, cannot, without great laxity 
of language, be said to be punished by being excluded from 
immortality.^ 

The doctrine, however, in the sense before stated, has been 

not merely innocent, but pure, holy, upright, and altogether virtuously disposed ; 
and as being, in that sense, " very good." An author of very high and well- 
deserved celebrity, has used the expression (doubtless inadvertently) that " Adam 
in Paradise was perfect ; forgetting that to speak of a being becoming prone to 
sin, by the actual commission of sin, is no less self-contradictory than to speak of 
him as self-created. One cannot wonder that incautious expressions like this 
should provoke the scoffs of the infidel, and should lead some of the weak and 
unthinking to reject our religion altogether, from believing it contains manifest 
absurdities. 

1 See a little Latin treatise entitled Tractatus tres., etc. 



ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 



169 



often expressly maintained, and mucli oftencr indirectly im- 
plied and assumed, as indubitable. 

Then, to relieve mankind from this sentence, and to procure 
for them immortal happiness in heaven, our Saviour Christ, it 
is said, not only in his death offered up an effectual sacrifice 
for the sins of the whole world, — bearing in his own person 
the punishment due to the imputed transgression of Adam, and 
to the actual sins of men, — but also, during his abode on earth, 
'performed for them those good works of perfect obedience to 
the law — ceremonial, civil, and moral — which are imputed 
to true believers in him, and considered as theirs ; even as the 
transgression of Adam is imputed to all his natural descend- 
ants. Thus, and thus only, it is said, could the evil introduced 
by Adam's transgression be (as far as respects the adoptive 
children of God) effectually repaired. For as Adam was the 
representative of the whole human race, so that his sin is, by 
imputation, made theirs, and they, all and each, thus lay under 
the sentence of eternal punishment, so it was necessary that 
the obedience and personal holiness of Christ, who stands as 
the representative of his faithful servants, should be in like 
manner imputed to them, and thus give them a title to eternal 
happiness, — that he should, in short, not only by his death 
undergo the punishment due to man from God, but also, in his 
life, fulfil the righteousness due to God from man ; in each 
instance suffering and performing what he did, vicariously, 
/br, and in the stead of, his people ; who are thence regarded 
as having themselves both paid the penalty of sin, and also 
performed perfect obedience to the divine laws, both having 
been accomplished by their substitute and representative. 
And some there are who go so far as to maintain that as God 
imputes to believers the good works of Jesus Christ, and trans- 
fers to them the merit of his obedient life, so he also imputed 
to Jesus, at the time of his crucifixion, the actual guilt of those 



170 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



sins for which he suffered, and regarded him, for the time be- 
ing, as the actual transgressor ; " bearing our sins " not only 
in respect of the penalty of them, but of their intrinsic guilt, 
and the divine wraty against it. This, however, is not, I be- 
lieve, held by all who maintain the imputation of Adam's sin 
and of Christ's obedience. 

Some other slighter variations of statement are to be found, 
as might be expected, in the works of different authors ; but 
such, in the main, as I have described, is the system taught, 
not in abstruse theological disquisitions merely, but in several 
popular treatises and sermons ; and taught as the very founda- 
tion of Christian faith — of which, indeed, it must, if true, form 
no insignificant part.^ 

And it is taught by some who admit that it is not expressly 
stated in Scripture, but is to be deduced (by a certain process 
of " development ") from a scheme of doctrine of which it 
forms a necessary part, and which does, in their view, form 
an essential portion of the gospel revelation. 

That it is paradoxical, — remote from all we should natu- 
rally have expected, — and startling to our untutored feelings, 
cannot be questioned. This is, however, no reason why it may 
not be true ; or why, if true, we should shrink from receiving 
it ; since God's " ways are not as our ways," — and since, inca- 
pable as we are of estimating his counsels, it is for us, not to 
question, but to receive whatever he may have proposed to us. 
It is a reason, however, why we should inquire for, and expect, 
the more full and precise revelation on such a point. What is 
readily discoverable by unassisted human reason, we must not 
expect to find revealed at all in Scripture. Such things, again, 

1 There are many writers who never think of reminding their readers, and, 
indeed, appear to have themselves gradually learnt to forget, that wrath is attrib- 
uted to the Deity only in a figurative, not a literal sense. — See Archbishop 
King's Discourse on Predestination. 

2 This theory may be classed, 1 think, under the head of Bacon's Idola Theatri. 



ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 



171 



as, thougli not discoverable by reason, are yet comformable to 
its suggestions, and contain no mysterious difficulty, — of these 
we may receive satisfactory assurance even in a single passage, 
or in a few short hints. But any doctrine which, like that 
now in question, is wholly at variance with every notion we 
should naturally be led to form, we may be sure will be revealed, 
if revealed at all, in the fullest and most decisive language. 

The doctrine, too, which I have been considering, must, if 
it belong to the gospel scheme, be as important as it is myste- 
rious, — it must be the very key, as it were, to eternal happi- 
ness ; since, according to this view, it is only through the 
obedience of Christ, imputed to us, that we can have any 
claim or hope to be admitted to the glories of his heavenly 
kingdom. 

Some there are, indeed, who, though they hold the doctrines 
in question, yet do not hold the reception of them to be alto- 
gether essential to salvation. But unless they give some ex- 
planation of this charitable belief, they will be likely to lead 
others to follow out their principles to a more consistent con- 
clusion. For if it be a truth plainly revealed in Scripture that 
the actual guilt of the act of our first parents is imputed to us, 
and regarded by the Most High as to all intents and purposes 
our act, it seems inevitably to follow that we are bound to feel 
penitent for the sin of Adam, or else must stand convicted of 
impenitence. We are told that " if we confess our sins, God 
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." Now it seems 
impossible, supposing the theory in question to be true, that 
a man can comply with this precept who does not confess 
what must be, on that supposition, one of the greatest sins, — 
which God imputes to him as his, — and who does not believe 
in any such imputation. And if believers can be saved only 
through the imputation to them, as performed by themselves, 
of the good works performed by Christ, and if this is as clearly 



172 



Vv^HATELY'S ESSAYS. 



revealed as it is that lie died for us, and that we are to trust 
in his redemption, then, surely, faith in each of these doctrines 
alike must be equally essential. 

§ II. It is not once or twice, therefore, — it is not obscurely 
or obliquely, — that we might expect to find 

Scripture author- 
ity on which it is Paul spcakiug to his converts of this imputed 

sin and imputed obedience. As the foundation 
of salutary dread, and of consolatory hope, — as connected 
most intimately with every question relative to the punish- 
ments and rewards of the next world, — we might expect him 
to make the most explicit declarations respecting a point of 
such moment, — to dwell on it copiously and earnestly, — to 
recur to it in almost every page. 

Now, when we proceed to the actual examination of Scrip- 
ture, do we find these most reasonable expectations confirmed ? 
Far otherwise. It is not, perhaps, going too far, to say that the 
whole system is made to rest on a particular interpretation of 
one single text (Rom. v. 19), — " As by one man's disobedience 
many^ were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall 
many^ be made righteous." For though there are other passa- 
ges which have been considered as alluding to and confirming 
the tenet in question, there is none that could, without mani- 
fest violence, be construed into an express declaration of it.^ 

The passage in question is one which we cannot reasonably 
hope to interpret aright, if we contemplate it as 

Interpretation *■ x o / jl 

of the passage ap- an iusulatcd propositiou, — if we do not take 
pealed to. .^^^ account the general tenor of the apostle's 

teaching. Now it is most important to observe that, frequent 
as are his allusions, as might be expected, to the Christian's 

1 ol iroKKoX^ the many ; that is, the whole mass of mankind. 

2 One may often be reminded of the satirical epigram inscribed in a Bible: 

" Hie liber est in quo quaerit sua dogmata quisque : 
Invenit et pariter dogmata quisque sua." 



ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 



173 



redemption, and acceptableness to God, through Christ, the 
reference is made, throughout, to his death, — to his cross, — to 
his hlood, — to his sufferings, — to his sacrifice of himself, as 
the meritorious cause of our salvation ; not to the righteous- 
ness of his life imputed to believers, — the transfer of the merit 
of his good works. For instance, " He hath reconciled us to 
God, in the body of his flesh, through death^' — " Being justi- 
fied freelj by his grace, through the redemption that is in 
Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, 
through faith in his hlood^^ — " He hath brought us nigh to God, 
and made him at peace with us, through the hlood of the cross^^ 
— " We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus 
Christ once for all," — besides numerous other passages to the 
same purpose. 

Frequent, again, as are the allusions to the pure and perfect 
holiness of our Saviour's life, we nowhere find this spoken of as 
imputed to Christians, and made theirs by tranefer of merit ; but, 
always, as qualifying him to be, on the one hand, an example 
to Christians, and, on the other, both the victim and the priest of 
spotless purity, — as constituting him the true lamb without 
blemish, — "the innocent blood," which " taketh away the 
sin of the world," — because he who offered it had no need 
of atonement for himself For instance, "How much more 
shall the blood of Christ, who, through the Eternal Spirit, of- 
fered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from 
dead works to serve the living God ? " — " Such an high ]3riest 
became us, who is holy, harmless, un defiled, separate from sin- 
ners." In these, and many other such passages, in which the 
personal holiness of Christ is spoken of, and spoken of too in 
reference to our salvation, it is not said that the obedience of 
Christ is imputed to us, and the merit of his good works trans- 
ferred to us (which we might surely have expected to find there 
mentioned had it been designed to teach such a doctrine) ; 
15* 



174 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 

but, on the contrary, it seems rather to be implied that his 
obedience was imputed to himself as necessary to qualify him 
for the great sacrifice of atonement. 

And the language of Scripture on this point coincides with 
the most sound moral judgment ; which indicates that nothing 
short of a life of unsinning virtue could have made him him- 
self acceptable, and fit for his great office, — that, in short, it 
behooved him " to fulfil all righteousness," in order that he might 
be a spotless victim, and an undefiled priest, — that in suffering ^ 
indeed, an accursed death, he did more than could be required 
of an innocent person on his own account — and that, therefore, 
he died, " the just for the unjust ; " but that this being just — the 
perfect obedience of his life — could not be more than requi- 
site to constitute him perfect as a man. I speak, of course, of 
his obedient life in reference to his human nature alone ; in 
respect of which he always declared, " My Father is greater 
than I." To speak of his obedience^ considering him as a divine 
person, would be at least approaching very near to the Arian 
doctrine ; ^ since all obedience necessarily implies a superior. 

Surely, then, when we read that " by the obedience of [the] 
one, many [the many] shall be made [or constituted, Kara- 
cTTa^ri(TovTai\ righteous," the presumption is strongly in favor 
of such an interpretation as shall accord with the declaration 
that we are "justified by his bloods Now such an interpreta- 
tion is not only allowable, but is even, I may say, suggested by 
the apostle himself in another passage ; in which, speaking of 
Christ's death^ he uses the very corresponding word to viraKor] 

1 There is, I fear, in many Christians, a strong habitual leaning of the mind to 
this view of the Scripture doctrines; though they are unconscious of it, from 
their haying formalin/ condemned Arianism, and distinctly asserted the equality 
of the Son and the Holy Spirit with the Father; forgetting that this is no secu- 
rity against a tinge being given to their ordinary course of thought on the sub- 
ject, — - a tendency practically to contemplate three distinct divine beings, the 
second inferior to the first, and the third to both. — See Note A, at the end of 
this Essay, 



ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 



175 



obedience," in this place : Christ, he says, " became obedient 
[vTrrjKoo^'] to death, even the death of the cross." And again 
(Heb. V. 8), "though he were a Son, yet learned lie ohedi- 
ence by the things which he suffered ; and being made perfect, 
he became the author of eternal salvation to all them that 
ohey him." His death, indeed, is more than once referred to 
in this point of view ; namely, as a part, and as the great 
and consummating act, of that submissive and entire obedience 
which he rendered throughout to his Father's will. For in- 
stance, in our Lord's own words just before he suffered, " Not 
my will, but thine be done " — "' Lo, I come to do thy will, 
O God," — " When he suffered he threatened not, but commit- 
ted himself to him that judgeth righteously." 

Then, with respect to the imputation of Adam's sin to his 
descendants, it might, as I have said, be expected that, if true, 
it would be frequently and fully set forth. But at any rate it 
could hardly fail to be mentioned on those occasions w^here the 
apostle is occupied in proving and insisting on the universal 
necessity of a Redeemer, and the inevitable ruin of mankind 
without an atoning sacrifice. Now this plainly is his object in 
the opening of this very epistle (to the Romans), which is gen- 
erally regarded as the most systematic of all that he wrote. 
What, then, is Paul's procedure ? He dwells at large on the 
actual sins of men, — he gives a copious and shocking detail of 
the enormities of the Gentile world, into which they had 
plunged in defiance of their own natural conscience, — and then 
expatiates on the sins of which the Jews had been guilty, in 
violation of the law in which they trusted. How needless 
would all this have been for one who maintained the doctrine 
of imputed sin ! No one, indeed, denies that men do commit 
actual shi ; but the hypothesis I have been speaking of would 
have cut the argument short. On that supposition it vrould 
have been sufficient to say, at once, that Adam's transgression, 



176 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



being imputed to all his posterity, so that they are all regarded 
as guilty of his act, they must be, in consequence, — whether 
sinful or innocent, whether more or less sinful, in their own 
persons, — doomed to eternal perdition, unless redeemed from 
this imputed guilt. Nor does the passage I have appealed 
to stand alone in this respect. Numerous as are the denun- 
ciations of divine judgment against sin, all concur in making 
the reference, not to the imputed sin of our first parents, but 
to the actual sins of men : none of them warrants the conclu- 
sion that any one is liable to punishment (I mean in the next 
world) for any one's sins but his own.-^ 

§ III. It should be observed, also, that there is an especial 
reason for interpreting that part of the epistle I 
have been aUuding to ^ by reference to other 
rAh^Tubrectr'* P^^^^ scripture; which is, that it is not the 
apostle's object, in this place, to declare or es- 
tablish the doctrine of original sin, and of our deliverance 
from its consequences by Christ our Saviour. It is plain 
from the context that these points are established only inci- 
dentally ; the main drift of his argument being to set forth 
the universality of the redemption, — as being coextensive 
with the evil introduced at the fall which it was designed to 
remedy. The Jewish converts, to whom he seems principally 
addressing himself, were disposed by their ancient national 
prejudices to limit the benefits of the Messiah's advent to their 
own people. The great and revolting mystery to them, was, 
" that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs ; " in opposition 
to which exclusive spirit he infers the universal redemption 



1 1 have treated more at large on this point in Essay I. (Fourth Series). See 
Kote B, at the end of this Essay, in which I have extracted a passage from Arch- 
bishop Sumner's Apostolical Preaching. 

2 Kcm. V. 19. 



OJT IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 



177 



accomplished by Christ from the universality of that loss and 
corruption which he undertook to repair, — " as in Adam a// die, 
even so in Christ shall all be made alive," — " as by one man's 
disobedience many [the many ; that is, all the rest] were made 
[or constituted, /carccra^T^crav,] sinners, even so by the obedi- 
ence of the one shall the many " (that is, not the Jews only, 
but the whole race of mankind, as many as believe) "be made 
righteous." 

Now, there is no doubt that such an oblique allusion to any 
doctrine does not only establish it, but establish it even more 
decidedly than an express assertion ; since it implies that it is 
a known and undisputed truth. But still the difference be- 
tween the two cases is not the less important. We are not to 
look for the same full and clear exposition of any point of faith 
in those passages where it is merely alluded to incidentally, as 
in those wherein the object is to declare and explain it. And 
some passage, in which it is the direct object to reveal and in- 
culcate the doctrine now in question, would doubtless have been 
appealed to by its advocates had any such passage existed. But 
fundamentally important as this truth must be, if it be a truth, 
no portion of Scripture can be found that can even be repre- 
sented as having for its immediate and primary design to de- 
clare it. The sinfulness of human nature is indeed abundantly 
set forth ; but not the imputation to one man of the actual trans- 
gression committed by another : our salvation through Christ 
is earnestly dwelt on ; but it is " through faith in his bloocV^ 
Nay, there is mention made of imputation and nonimputation ; 
but not of one man's act or desert to another. God is spoken 
of as " not imputing to men their trespasses," — which, by the 
way, would amount to nothing, if he still imputed to them the 
trespasses of another, — and we are told that " failh " (our 
own) " shall be imputed to us for righteousness." 

And this should teach us how to interpret the passages in 



178 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



which we are said to be made " the righteousness of God in 
Christ/' and he to be " made sin for us ; " namely, not that he 
was considered in the sight of God as actually sinful, but that 
he was made a " sin-offering for us ; " the word a/xaprta, which 
is literally " sin," being commonly used by the Septuagint 
translators in the sense of a sin-offering. And, again, when 
we are said to be made righteous through his " obedience unto 
death," and to be made the righteousness of God in him ; " 
and he, again, is said to be " made of God unto us wisdom, and 
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption," it is not 
meant that there is an imputation to believers of the right- 
eousness of Christ's life, as if it were theirs, any more than 
that the wisdom of Christ is imputed to them, or the redemp- 
tion which he effected is regarded as effected by them ; but 
that he purchased by the sacrifice of himself all these benefits 
for men ; for those, that is, who should by faith be admitted to 
be partakers of them, — that when he had been "delivered 
for our sins," he " rose again for our justification ; " that is, 
"ascended up on high, and received gifts for men, that the 
Lord God might dwell among them ; " namely, that his Holy 
Spirit, whose temple we are, might reside in and sanctify our 
hearts, and impart to us wisdom and righteousness, to be prac- 
tically displayed in our lives. ^ 

And since without this holy guidance our own feeble and 
depraved nature could never bring forth what the apostle calls 
" the fruits of the Spirit," nor follow the steps of Christ, this 
may well be called the " righteousness of Christ," or the 
" righteousness of God in Christ." For " if any man have not 
the spirit of Christ, he is none of his," — " if any man keep 
my saying, my Father will love him, and we will come unto 
him, and make our abode in him." " Little children," says the 
Apostle John, " let no man deceive you : he that doeth righteous- 

1 See Whitby on tliis subject. 



ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 



179 



ness is rigliteous, even as he is righteous." " They that are 
Christ's," says Paul, " have crucified the flesh, with the affec- 
tions and lusts," — " if we live in the Spirit,^ let us also walk 
in the Spirit," — "if ye, through the Spirit, do mortify the 
deeds of the flesh, ye shall live ; for, as many as are led by 
the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." 

And indeed our Lord's own parable of the marriage-feast, 
in which the guest is rejected who had failed to put on the 
wedding-garment," might seem sufiicient alone to remove ail 
doubts on the present subject. No one can doubt that the 
" righteousness of Christ " is here represented by the garment, 
which (according to Oriental custom) was freely provided by 
the giver of the feast. It would be absurd for a guest, under 
these circumstances, to boast of the richness of his apparel ; 
but, though properly belonging to the bountiful master of the 
house, the guest was required himself to wear it. The 
purity and splendor of the robe worn by the master himself 
could not be transferred, by imputation, to sl guest who should 
neglect to put on that which was provided for him. The 
accepted guest must be himself " clothed with righteousness," 
though it is still " the righteousness of Christ." ^ 

Again, when our Lord compares himself to a vine, he nat- 
urally leads us to understand that, as the fruit borne hy the 
hranches is called the fruit of the vine, because the branch 
" cannot bear fruit of itself," so the righteousness practised 
by his disciples is to be reckoned his righteousness, since they 
must " abide in him ; " being not only instructed by him, and 
imitators of his example^ but also guided and aided by his 
Spirit. Tie teaches them the way, and shows them the way, 

1 By the Spirit" would be the more correct rendering. As the passage 
stands in our version, it sounds iike a tautology. But the sense of it plainly is, 
if we have life (that is, Christian life) " by the Spirit, let us act according to his 
guidance." 

2 See Lectures on the Parables, L. III. 



180 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



and supports them in the way. But neither here nor any- 
v/here else do we hear of any such thing as imputed fruitful- 
7iess, — of a branch being considered as bearing fruit which 
is borne not by it, but by some other. He only tells us that 
the branches which " bear fruit " are purified that they may 
bear more fruit ; and that those which bear not fruit are taken 
away." 

§ IV. From the consideration, then, of these passages of 
Scripture which have been adduced, as well as 

Liability of men 

to be biassed by tbe of many more to the same purpose which might 

love of system. i -r 

be appealed to ii neediul, i cannot but conclude 
that that system of imputed sin and righteousness which I 
have been considering is altogether fanciful and groundless. 
It has indeed at first sight a sort of compactness, CQherency, 
and consistency of parts which gives it, till closely scrutinized, 
an air of plausibility ; but this very circumstance should, in 
any case, put us the more carefully on our guard ; for there is 
no more common error in many departments of study, and 
especially in theology, than the prevalence of a love of system 
over the love of truth} Men are often so much captivated by 
the aspect of what seems to them a regular, beautiful, and 
well-connected theory, as to adopt it hastily, without inquiring, 
in the outset, how far it is comformable to facts, or to scrip- 
tural authority; and thus, often on one or two passages of 
Scripture, have built up an ingenious and consistent scheme, 
of which the far greater part is a tissue of their own reason- 
ings and conjectures.^ 

1 Seduced by the Idola Theatri of Bacon. See Kote ( ^ ), p. 143. 

2 I would not be thought to appeal to our Articles, or to any other human 
work, as decisive on such a point. But it is worth considering by those members 
of our church who regard this doctrine as the keystone of Christianity, that the 
Articles, though insisting on justification through Christ, make no allusion to 
the imputation to believers, of his good works. The expression is, " propter 
meritum^^^ etc. ; not merita. 



ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 



181 



The wliole subject, indeed, of justification has been involved 
in great, and, I cannot but think, needless per- 
plexity, bj the practice formerly alluded to tech^iciruniform- 
(Essay III.) of first affixing (which may be al- ITe^T^Xact'd 
lowable)^ a strict technical sense to each of the enters of the word 

^ justification, 

principal words that have been employed in 
Scripture, and then (which is not allowable) interpreting the 
word, whenever it is found in the sacred writers themselves, 
according to such precise definition, instead of regarding their 
works as popular, not scientific, and seeking for the meaning 
of their expressions, in each case, from the context. 

Thus, in the present instance, if three or four, perhaps, of 
those who are accounted sound divines, should be consulted as 
to the doctrine of justification, it is not unlikely they would 
give as many different accounts of it. All would agree as to the 
importance of the doctrine ; but some would perhaps lay down 
two justifications, others only one ; and among these there would 
be found great discrepancies : and yet all, probably, would be 
found, in their general views of the Christian scheme, to ar- 
rive at nearly the same practical results. It is hardly to be 
supposed, indeed, that there can be so much difficulty (to the 
unlearned, impossibility) as this discrepancy would seem to 

It is worth observing, also, that the framers of our Liturgy make no allusion to 
imputed righteousness, in passages where it seems incredible they should have 
omitted it, had they held and designed to teach that doctrine. For instance, in 
the prayer before the consecration of the bread and wine, we find, " We do not 
presume to come to this thy table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own right- 
eousness; " and then, instead of adding but in the imputed righteousness of our 
Saviour," it proceeds, " but in thy manifold and great mercies." 

1 Perhaps, however, it would have been better if, from the very first, no 
Scriptural terms had been introduced into systems of theology. Some have 
objected to the word " Trinity,- and a few others, on the ground that they are 
not found in Scripture. This appears to me their chief recommendation; 
since, in this case, all danger is effectually avoided of misinterpreting Scripture 
in the way I am describing. As it is, one of our best safeguards against this 
danger, would be to vary from time to time the language of our expositions of 
Scripture doctrines. 

16 



182 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



imply, in ascertaining from Scripture " what we must do to 
be saved." And is there not, therefore, ground to suspect that 
many divines have been unconsciously involved in embarrass- 
ing disputes about words, from expecting in the sacred writers 
a more scientific accuracy and uniformity of language than 
they ever aimed at ? ^ 

When one of the apostles speaks to men of the condemna- 
tion for sin, from which they were to seek a way to escape, he 
naturally uses the St/catco^^Jvat,^ to be "justified," in the sense of 
acquittal^ — their " not having their trespasses imputed to 
them " (Acts xiii. 38, 39 ; Eom. iii. 25 ; Eom. v. 9). When, 
again, he alludes to the defilement of sin, analogous to the cer- 
emonial impurities which, under the Levitical law, excluded 
men from partaking of its sacred ordinances, he as naturally 
uses " justified " to signify their being accounted clean^ — re- 
garded as God's holy people^ and admitted without profanation 
to approach him, in the spiritual service of the new covenant 
(Rom. V. 1, 2). When, again, the Jews prided themselves on 
their law, as their guide to a moral and religious life, and as 
"justifying," — that is, making men good^ and fit to obtain heav- 
enly rewards, — he sets forth the vainness of that expectation ; 
since, even if the law had had the " better hope " of the gos- 

1 See Hampden's Bampton Lectures, Lect. I. 

2 See A. Knox's Remains (Vol. I. p. 276), where he points out that the use of 
the word ^iKaioffui/yj by the apostle (denoting, like the other words in (Tvvr), a 
moral habit), instead of ^iKaicooris, in those passages where he is, by some, under- 
stood to be speaking of another's righteousness imputed to us, plainly indicates 
that this was not his meaning. The presumption, at least, is in favor of that sense 
of the word ^iKaioffuvrj, which is undoubtedly its original and strict sense ; and 
if not invariably, at least generally, the word is employed by the apostle so as to 
make the most obvious and natural interpretation. 

The coincidence in this point between Mr. Knox and myself, has led some to 
imagine that my notions must have been, directly or indirectly, derived from 
him. But this Essay was published some years before I even knew of the existence 
of him or any of his friends. My views were no more borrowed from him than 
his from me ; but both from a common source. 



ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 



183 



pel, — the sanction of eternal rewards, — still, it could not 
justify those who had not strictly obeyed all its precepts; 
which man, left to his natural strength, had never fully accom- 
plished (Rom. ii. 25, and vii. 22, 23) : insisting that we are to 
be justified, that is, made good men^ through faith in Christ, 
which admits us to a participation of his Spirit (Rom. v. 12), 
even the Spirit which " helpeth our infirmities " (Rom. viii. 
26), and "worketh in us both to will and to do of his good 
pleasure." Hence he speaks of Christ as being "delivered 
for our sins, and rising again for our justification " (Rom. iv. 
25, and vi. 4) ; that is, that when he " ascended up on high, he 
received gifts for men," namely, " that the Lord God might 
dwell among themP Hence also he occasionally speaks of the 
" law of faith ; " and universally contrasts, not (as many are 
apt to suppose) good works with faith, but faith with the Mosaic 
law, as leading more effectually to good works (Rom. viii. 4, 
11, 12, 13, and Tit. iii. 5, and 1 Cor. vi. 11), by obtaining for 
us the aid of the Holy Spirit, of which they are the fruits. 
The chief cause indeed of this apostle's giving so prominent a 
place to file word "justification," may be found in the peculiar 
circumstances under which he preached, especially when ad- 
dressing the Jews, and those infected with their prejudices ; 
who were always hoping to be justified by the law (imperfectly 
as they observed it) ; that is, made at least sufficiently right- 
eous to inherit the rewards of a future life. 



§ V. It may be said, however, that the system which has 
been treated of in this Essay is, even if un- 
sound, not practically dangerous, and, therefore, 
not one which needs to be refuted. That it has 
been held by pious and worthy men, I am well 
aware ; nor would I contend that it had any necessary tendency 
to make them otherwise, and that their notions on this point 



Evils indirectly 
resulting from er- 
roneous interpreta- 
tion of Scripture. 



184 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



were inconsistent with their religious and moral characters. 
But it would be rash to conclude thence that their error, if it 
be one, must be altogether harmless. Nothing is harmless 
which may put a stumbling-block in the path of any sincere 
Christian, — nothing is harmless that tends to give an undue 
advantage to unbelievers — to disgust some with what they 
are told is the orthodox faith, and to furnish others with objec- 
tions against it, by inserting doctrines which the Scriptures do 
not warrant, — nothing is harmless that leads to a depreciation, 
a dread, or a neglect of the divine instructions of the Apostle 
Paul. And such is most remarkably the case with respect to 
the system I have now been considering. It is a favorite 
point of attack to the infidel and the heretic, who pretend, 
and probably believe themselves, to have exposed to contempt 
the great doctrines of the atonement and the divinity of Christ, 
by exposing the chimerical pretensions of doctrines which are 
taught in conjunction with these, and represented as parts of 
the same system. And in others, the too prevailing neglect 
of Paul's writings, as neither intelligible, nor safe, nor a profit- 
able study to any but theologians of the most profound learning 
and wisdom, is fostered, by attributing to him doctrines more 
likely to bewilder and mislead than to be applicable to any 
practical benefit. 

The doctrine which has been taught, that certain persons of 
preeminent virtue, called, in distinction from the rest of the 
Christian world, saints, have performed good works which not 
only give them a claim to eternal life, but are more than suffi- 
cient, and that the merit of these may be transferred to other 
men, who may thus as it were be virtuous by proxy, — this evi- 
dently seems to go on the supposition that the works performed 
are in themselves some sort of advantage to the Most High 
himself. For if we regard all good works as being — which is 
the true view — enjoined for the benefit of the doer, in order 



ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 



185 



to make us good men, then it is inconceivable that another 
person's good works can be transferred to us, and considered 
as ours. Thus, when a child is set by his master to write an 
exercise, or to draw a map, if he employs a schoolfellow to do 
the task for him, instead of being rewarded he is punished ; 
because it was in order to his own improvement, and not for 
the master's benefit, that the work was to be done. But, on 
the other hand, if any one offers for sale to a publisher a book 
or a map, it matters nothing to the purchaser whether it be 
the seller's own work, or that of some friend who has given it 
to him. He only looks to the value of the work itself, with a 
view to his own profit. 

It seems plain, therefore, that the notion of one person's good 
works being transferred to another, and considered as his, 
must proceed on the supposition of some value in the works 
themselves, as if they could be a benefit to the Most High ; 
though no one can fail to perceive the absurdity of such a 
notion, when plainly stated. 

And the same reasoning is applicable in reference to the 
doctrine we have now been considering. 

But if any one should ask, " Since the Most High can have 
no need of any one's services, or, again, of any one's sufferings, 
how can it be that the sufferings and death of Christ could 
procure man's salvation, and that he should have suffered 
in our stead?" — if any one should ask this question, you 
should answer that you do not JcnoWj since it is a point on 
which Scripture give us no explanation ; and that you cannot 
clear up either that or any other part of the one great mysteri- 
ous difficulty (of which this is a branch), — the existence of evil 
in the universe. We know, as a fact, from the plain declara- 
tions of Scripture, that " Christ died, the just for the unjust," 
and that " by his stripes we are healed ; " and we must suppose 
that if it had been possible for us to understand, and needful 
16* 



186 



WHATELrS ESSAYS. 



for us to know, the reasons why this was necessary, and how 
the death of Christ avails us, the Scriptures would have told 
us. But they do not. They merely tell us the fact. And if, 
again. Scripture had plainly declared that it is possible to be 
virtuous by proxy, and that another person's good works would 
be accepted by the Most High as ours, then we should have 
been bound to believe this, though unable to explain it. But 
as it is, the Scriptures tell us no such thing. We are left 
on this point to the light of reason ; and nothing can be more 
contrary to reason than that one man's virtue should be ac- 
counted another's, — that a barren branch of the vine should 
be reckoned fruitful, on account of the fruitfulness of another 
branch. 

I would suggest, also, to those worthy and intelligent persons 
who hold the doctrine alluded to, to consider whether it does 
not tend rather to do away with the importance of Christ's 
atoning sacrifice. A man who owes a debt, is required either 
to pay it or else to undergo the penalty (in the East, in old 
times, bondage) of ^o?z-payment ; but he is not called upon for 
hoth. If, when a man who owed ten thousand talents was called 
on for payment, some friend discharged the debt for him by 
paying in his name, he would of course feel most grateful to that 
friend. And so he would to a friend who should consent to 
undergo in his stead the penalty of bondage (or whatever else 
it might be) for 72072-payment. But it would be quite unne- 
cessary for any friend to do hoth of these — to 'pay the debt, 
and yet^ moreover, to submit also to the penalty of ?zo?2-payment. 
The application to the present case is obvious. If men have 
Christ's righteousness imputed to them, in the sense of being 
considered as having themselves led that life of holy obedience 
which was led by him in their stead, it would seem to follow 
that they are not sinners, and can have no need of atonement. 
And those who are very far from meaning to adopt or to prop- 



ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOTISNESS. 



187 



agate such a view, ought to be the more careful not to teach, 
without very clear and express Scripture warrant, any doctrine 
which naturally leads to such a consequence. 

Mysterious, no doubt, it is, that the sacrifice of " the inno- 
cent blood " should be accepted as an atonement for sin ; but 
in this case we know that the sacrifice was voluntary : " I lay 
down my life ; no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of 
myself." Christ, of his own accord, offered his life as " a ran- 
som for many." But when we are told of eternal punishment 
denounced ao^ainst men for the actual sin of Adam, and this not 
by their own voluntary choice, or by any act of their own, but 
by the absolute decree of the Almighty Judge, our ideas of 
the divine justice, whether drawn from reason or from Scrip- 
ture, cannot but be shocked. 

When, again, we find Christ spoken of as suffering for us 
and in our stead, so that " by his stripes we are healed," though 
we cannot comprehend, indeed, this act of mysterious mercy, 
we do comprehend that " there is now, therefore, no condem- 
nation for them that are in Christ Jesus," but that his suffering 
in our stead exempts his faithful followers from suffering in 
their own persons. But when men are told that the righteous- 
ness of Christ's life is imputed to believers, and considered as 
their merit, they are startled at the want of correspondence of 
this doctrine with the former, and its apparent inconsistency 
with the injunctions laid upon us to " bring forth the fruits 
of the Spirit " unto everlasting salvation, because " God work- 
eth in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure," while 
we are also told that Christ has already fulfilled all moral 
obligations in our stead. The Antinomian system is unhappily 
the only one which surmounts this incongruity ; ^ and its advo- 

1 Perhaps, also, the Romish doctrine ofimrgatory maybe considered as going 
some way towards removing the incongruity. "Although," a Romanist might 
gay, " Christ suffered for our redemption, and in our stead, still we hold, that, 



188 



WHATELTS ESSAYS. 



cates accordingly have availed themselves of the advantage. 
Since, say they, Christ suffered for us, and in our stead, so as 
to exempt us from suffering ourselves, by parity of reasoning 
the good works which he performed, the personal holiness 
he possessed, being imputed to us as performed for us and 
in our stead, must, in like manner, exempt us from any such 
performance of our own.^ 

I do not, however, mean to contend that the generality of 
those who maintain the system in question are tainted, or are 
even necessarily in danger of tainting, the minds of others with 
the Antinomian heresy. It is enough to say, that if they bring 
Paul's writings into disrepute or disuse, by attributing to him, 
without sufficient grounds, doctrines which appear to lead to 
such pernicious consequences, they are answerable for the 
evil thence resulting. Whenever we teach for gospel truths 
anything which Scripture does not warrant, we are answerable 
for the effects produced, not only on those who adopt our opin- 
ions, but also on those who dissent from them. 

Let Paul, as well as the rest of the sacred writers, be studied 
with diligence and candor, and without any bias in favor of an 
ingenious and consistent theory — the offspring of our own spec- 
ulations ; let the student " prove all things, and hold fast that 
which is right ; " and to this end let him observe the wise 
maxim of admitting no conclusion which is not, itself, as well 
as the premises it is drawn from, agreeable to the word of God. 
And let the general tenor of each work in particular, and of 
the Scriptures altogether, be carefully attended to, instead of 
dwelling exclusively on detached passages ; and then we may 

either in the way of voluntary penances in this world, or in the flames of purga- 
tory, the sinner must also suffer in his own person a portion of the penalty due; 
even as yo2i hold that men must lead virtuous lives themselves, although the 
perfect righteousness of Christ was performed in their stead, and is imputed to 
them as theirs." 
1 See Whitby on this subject. 



ON BIPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 



189 



boldly and constantly maintain every doctrine which we find 
to be really revealed, however mysterious, or however unac- 
ceptable. 

We are, in reality, not preaching the gospel unless we both 
preach the whole gospel, and, hkewise, the gospel alone ; nor 
can we hope for the apostle's consolatory trust of being " pure 
from the blood of all men," unless, like him, we declare to men 
" all the counsel of God," and (as a part of the Christian faith) 
nothing but " the counsel of God." 



190 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS, 



NOTE TO ESSAY VL 



KoTE A— Page 174. 

That it is possible for men to become something very near indeed 
to Arianism without knowing it, we have a curious instance in eccle- 
siastical history. In the early stages of Arianism a confession of 
faith was agreed upon' which was satisfactory to all parties till, some 
time after, the Arians began to boast of their triumph, and to point 
out the sanction which the formula adopted gave to their doctrine ; 
and then " the church," says Jerome, " marvelled to find itself unex- 
pectedly become Arian." 

Something of the same kind, on a smaller scale, took place very 
recently among ourselves. The discovery of Milton's System of The- 
ology startled many persons, by its avowed Arianism, who had been 
accustomed to commend his poems for their sound theology ; though 
they convey the very same views, stated almost as plainly as, in 
a poem, they could be. Numerous passages, indeed, may be cited 
from the Paradise Lost, which cannot be censured as heterodox, 
because they are little more than metrical versions of portions of 
Scripture. But such passages do not necessarily prove anything, one 
way or the other, respecting a writer's opinions ; since the Scriptures 
themselves appear, to an Arian, to speak Arianism, — ■ to a Socinian, 
Socinianism, etc. But that there is in the poem a general leaning 
such as I have just alluded to, must, I think, be evident except to 
those who, from various causes, and, among the rest, from an early 
and habitual study of Milton,^ have themselves imperceptibly imbibed 
similar notions. 

These instances are amply sufficient to prove, at the very least, 
such a possibility as I have alluded to. 

Probably, indeed, the whole doctrine of justification through the 
righteousness of Christ imputed to believers, may be traced in a 

1 At Rimini, A. D. 360. Above four hundred prelates attended it. 

2 When I speak, however, of Milton as Arian, I do not mean that he pre- 
cisely coincided with Arius,much less designed to enroll himself among his dis- 
ciples ; I mean merely to designate the kind of error towards which his language 
tends. Milton certainly was nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri," — well 
inclined to think for himself, though not always to think soberly." 



ON IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 



191 



great degi'ee to tliese seml-Arian views. Men are apt to conclude 
that the "righteousness of Christ'* must denote something distinct 
from the indwelling of the Holi/ Spirit, bringing forth fruit unto holi- 
ness, because they fear to confound together what they habitually, 
though unconsciously, consider two different agents. Whereas Scrip- 
ture, if they would submit, to be implicitly led by it, promises that 
Christ will come unto his servants and " make his abode with them,'* 
— that "hereby know we that he. [Christ] dwelleth in us, by his 
Spirit which he hath given us ; and that " the Lord is the^ Spirit." 

" First, I observe," says Archbishop Sumner, " that though St. 
Paul clearly refers back to Adam the origin of that natural corrup- 
tion which requires the atonement of Christ, as the passages already 
cited have proved, yet he does not in his general practice insist 
upon Adam's guilt as the immediate cause of divine wrath against 
those he is addressing, but prefers to take his argument from its 
effects upon their own personal character. These consequences he 
represents as indisputable and universal, which must be constantly 
borne in mind, both in the first application to Christ as the author of 
salvation, and throughout the whole of the Christian's life and con- 
flict with the world. The first consequence of that ' fault and cor- 
ruption of nature,' which we derive from Adam, is actual sin and 
transgression of the moral law. The converts at Rome he humbles 
by a commemoration of the * idolatry, fornication, wickedness, mali- 
ciousness, covetousness, and all unrighteousness,'' to which they had 
been given up in their unconverted state (i. 29), etc. 

" To the Corinthians, after enumerating the heinous sinners who 
shall not inherit the kingdom of God, he adds : 

" ' Such were some of you ' (I. vi. 11). 

" To the Ephesians he says : * You hath he [God] quickened, loho 
icere dead in trespasses and siris, icherein in times past ye loalked ac- 
cording to the course of this ivorld, according to the prince of the power 
of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disoledlence : 
among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lust 
of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and 
were by nature the children of wrath, even as others' (ii. 1-3). And, 
very emphatically, 

"'Let no man deceive you with vain words ; for, on account of these 



1 Not " that '• as our translation has it. 



192 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



tilings [fornication, uncleanness, covetousness] cometh the wrath of 
God upon the children of disobedience ' (Eph. v. 6). 

" The Colossians he thus reminds of what they owed to Christ : 
* You that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind bi/ 
wicked works, yet now hath he [Christ] reconciled ' (i. 21). 

" In the Epistle to the Thessalonians the Gentiles are condemned 
as living ' in the lust of concupiscence ' (I. iv. 5). In that to Timothy, 
St. Paul declares himself to have been the chief of sinners, because 
he had been a * hlasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious' (1. i. 13). 

" Titus he instructs to put his flock in mind of their former sinful 
life : * For we ourselves also were sometime foolish, disobedient, de- 
ceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, 
hateful and hating one another* (iii. 3). 

" To the Hebrews it was sufficient to show that * the high priest 
needed daily to offer up sacrifice, — first for his own sins, and then 
for those of the people* (yii, 27), 

" So 1 Peter iv. 3 ; ' The time past of our life may suffice us to 
have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when ive walked in lascivious- 
ness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idol- 
atries* 

This, then, is the first consequence of the fall of Adam evinced 
by actual sin — * that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world 
become guilty before God ; ' and ready to embrace, with humility 
and consciousness of guilt, the righteousness which is by faith. 

" I next observe, that, as far as we may be allowed to judge from 
the mode in which St. Paul introduces this leading doctrine of Chris- 
tianity, it appears that he deemed it more necessary and advisable 
to enforce among his disciples the positive effect of original sin upor 
their own hearts and lives, than the punishment to which they were 
liable from the fall of Adam, considered as their federal head. He 
was well aware that the guilt of actual transgression comes immedi- 
ately home to the hearer's conscience. Whereas, * it is the hardest 
thing in the world to bring carnal reason to submit to and approve 
of the equitableness of God's proceedings against us for the sin of 
Adam. Flesh and blood can hardly brook the acknowledgment 
that it is most righteous that we should be actually and personally 
wretched, who were federally disobedient and rebellious.'"^-— >Sw?w- 
ner's Apostolical Preaching, ch. iii. 



1 Hopkins on the Covenants* 



ESSAY VII. 



ON APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS IN SCRIPTURE. 

§ L It has been above remarked (Essay II.) that the expres- 
sion of the Apostle Peter relative to the things 
hard to be understood" in Paul's writings, has scrip'^t" 
been employed to furnish an excuse, at least, if f^udy of u 
not a reason, for neglecting and keeping out of 
sight these writings, — as being, to the generality of Christians, 
both too abstruse to be studied with any profit, and too liable 
to perversion to be approached with safety. And the principle 
of avoiding altogether whatever is hard to be understood, or 
liable to be wrested to a destructive purpose, naturally extends 
itself (as indeed the passage in question cannot but seem to 
warrant) to other parts of Scripture as weU as to Paul's epistles, 
till the result ensues of an exclusive attention to certain narra- 
tives of fact, and plain moral precepts ; while aU that relates 
to the peculiar doctrines of Christianity is left, as matter of 
mere speculative inquiry, in the hands of learned theologians. 

Of the precise extent of such an error, no one individual can 

be an adequate judge ; but that it is not imaginary — that it 

does prevail to a considerable degree — is a conclusion which 

I am convinced no one will doubt who has made extensive and 

careful observations. Indeed, there is in the human mind a 

kind of indolence which tends to produce this consequence. 

The remark of the intelligent historian of Greece wiU remain 
17 



194 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



as true as ever while human nature continues the same, that 
" the generality of men are averse to labor in the investigation of 
truth, and ready rather to acquiesce in what is set before them." 
The most corrupt churches, in the darkest and most priest-rid- 
den ages and countries, have only taken advantage of (what they 
could not have created) this disposition of the many to leave 
the task of searching the Scriptures to the learned few, — to let 
them acquire knowledge, instead of themselves, — and to acqui- 
esce without inquiry into whatever these should promulgate. 
The clergy of those churches were thence looked to, not as 
leaders and assistants to the laity in the study of Scripture, 
but as their substitutes ; and the word of God became, in con- 
sequence, a prohibited book to the great body of Christians, 
who were thus left to the guidance of men often themselves 
ignorant of Scripture, but whose ignorance the others had lost 
the means of detecting. This state of things, however, no 
priestcraft could have brought about, had not the dread of labo- 
rious investigation prepared the way for it.^ 

That there are difficulties in many parts of Scripture, — as 
great perhaps in Paul's writings as in any, — and that there is 
consequent danger of mischievous perversion, is undeniable, and 
is, indeed, what analogy would prepare us to expect ; for if the 
Scriptures could be properly understood without any trouble, 
and were incapable of perversion to bad purposes, they would 
be extremely unlike the rest of God's gifts. 

But the difficulties of Scripture, as well as the danger of 
misinterpreting it, are evidently an additional reason for dili- 
gence in the study of it. And Peter's implied censure of " those 
who are unlearned" (that is, ill acquainted with the religion 
of Jesus Christ) and, as will naturally follow, "unstable," and 
likely to be " blown about with every wind of doctrine," should 

1 1 have treated of this subject more at large in a Sermon on the Christian 
Priesthood, subjoined to the second edition of the Bampton Lectures; and also 
in the Essay (Third Series) on Vicarious Religion. 



ON APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS IN SCRIPTURE. 105 



operate as a caution, not against the study of the Scriptures, 
but against the faults which would lead us to wrest them to our 
destruction. 

To examine into all the difficulties of Scripture, or even of 
Paul's writings alone, would be a task to which perhaps the 
whole life of any single individual would be scarcely adequate : 
to lay down all the rules that might be applicable in such a task, 
would far exceed my present limits ; but it may be worth while 
to offer a few remarks on some of the most important, and, at 
the same time, most commonly overlooked, of those principles 
which should be kept in view in the study of the doctrinal parts 
of Scripture ; and the neglect of which has aggravated, if not 
produced, many of the difficulties complained of (in Paul's writ- 
ings especially), and has led, in many instances, to perplexity, 
if not to error. 



§11. 1. It is evidently of great importance, with a view 
to the right interpretation of any author, to con- 

Principles to be 

sider, and to understand fully, his general drift kept in mind in 
and design. If we are mistaken in this point, 
the utmost diligence and the utmost ingenuity may sometimes 
answer no other purpose than to lead us the further astray. 
Now it is, I conceive, not uncommon to consider revelation as 
designed, in part, to convey to us speculative truths, — to in- 
crease our knowledge concerning divine things as they are in 
their own intrinsic nature ; — in short, to teach us not merely 
religion properly so called (that is, the relations between God 
and man), but also what may be styled theological philosophy 
— a certain branch of abstract science.^ All men, it is true, 
acknowledge revelation to have a practical purpose ; but it is 
conceivable that this might still be the case, though it were not 



I Hinds's Rise and Early Progress of Christianity. Introduction, p. 81. See 
also Essay IV. (First Series). 



196 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



confined to such purposes : it might, conceivably, propose to 
our belief, both practical truths, and speculative truths also, 
distinct from each other ; and such a notion of the Christian 
revelation may, without being distinctly avowed, be neverthe- 
less practically entertained and acted upon. 

2. Nearly allied to, and resulting from, such a view of the 
Scriptures, — namely, as being, more or less of the nature of a 
philosophical system, — is the expectation, before alluded to, of 
finding in them a regular technical vocabulary, — a set of 
terms, confined each to its own appropriate sense, in which it 
shall be uniformly and precisely employed. This might indeed 
take place in a purely practical system ; but in any case where 
speculative scientific truth was the object, it would be altogether 
requisite ; and the more the Scriptures are viewed in this light, 
the more the student will be disposed to regard each word and 
phrase as bearing throughout a fixed and peculiar sense — just 
as might be expected in a creed, catechism, system of articles, 
code of ethics, or any such composition.^ 

3. In any scientific treatise, employing its own appropriate 
technical terms, any single detached passage will usually be 
sufficiently intelligible to one who is familiar with the defini- 
tion of those terms. It may, indeed, need others to establish 
its truth J or to be combined with it for the proof of ulterior 
truths, but not to ascertain its meaning. In proportion, there- 
fore, as the Scriptures are regarded as approaching to the 
character of a philosophical system, furnished with a regular 
technical phraseology, in the same degree will the student be 
disposed to build conclusions on insulated passages, without 
thinking it necessary in every instance to refer to the context, 
and to explain one part of Scripture by others. 

4. Lastly, one who has been accustomed to take, in any de- 
gree, such a view of Scripture as I have been describing, (and 

* See Essay on Omissions (First Series). 



ON APPAPwEXT CONTRADICTIONS IN SCRIPTURE. 197 



there are many who are disposed to do so, though without ac- 
knowledging it, even to themselves), will, of course, when they 
meet with passages which seem at variance with each other, 
be inclined (if, indeed, they are not absolutely driven into 
doubts as to the truth of some portion of Scripture) to regard 
these merely in the light of difficulties designed for the trial of 
their faith, — which they must surmount as well as they can, by 
explaining away such texts as are most adverse to their own 
conclusions, — while they dwell on every one that favors them ; 
softening down, if I may so speak, by their interpretation, every 
other part of Scripture, into a conformity with the hypothesis 
which they have built on some selected portion. 

It is true, indeed, that no one ever professed a design of 
studying Scripture on such a plan as has been described ; but 
it is no less true that many have at all times evinced, in vari- 
ous degrees, a tendency to slide into it insensibly, — that to 
these causes, in great measure, may be traced all the errone- 
ous systems of faith which have at various times prevailed, 
— and that many of the difSculties complained of, especially 
the discrepancies between the several parts of Scripture, and 
particularly between the Apostle Paul and the other sacred 
writers, have been either produced or greatly aggravated by 
this mistaken mode of studying the sacred records. 

That the Scriptures contain nothing like a philosophical sys- 
tem, set forth in technical phraseology, and that we must not 
expect to understand them by confining our attention to cer- 
tain insulated passages, and disregarding or explaining away the 
rest, but must interpret each by the context and from the 
rest of Scripture — these maxims appear so obvious, when 
distinctly stated, that we are apt to be the less sensible what 
vigilant care is requisite in order to conform to them steadily 
in practice. It may be advisable, therefore, to offer some brief 
remarks on each of the points that have been just alluded to. 



198 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



§ III. 1. That the natural desire of knowledge for its own 
sake tends to influence men's iuderment respect- 

The knowledge ^ ^ ^ ... 

revealed not spec- mg a dlviue revelatiou, in which they are apt to 

ulative, but relative 

to man, and prae- scck, not mcrclj practical truths, but the gratifi- 
cation of speculative curiosity, I have elswhere 
taken occasion to remark.^ All pretended revelations, accord- 
ingly, and legendary tales of saints, — all the disquisitions con- 
cerning things divine of the heathen philosophers (and I fear, 
we may add, of some Christian theologians, however otherwise 
different) concur in this, that they relate in great measure, if 
not exclusively, to the nature and attributes and works of the 
Supreme Being, as he is in himself, — to the real state of 
things in the invisible world, however unconnected with human 
conduct ; while our revelation is characterized, as I there ob- 
served, by abstaining from speculative points, — by refusing to 
gratify mere curiosity, — by teaching, in short, not philosophy, 
but what is properly called religion, — the knowledge, that is, 
of the relations between God and man, and of the practical 
truths thence resulting. 

Those, therefore, are not likely to interpret Scripture rightly, 
who are not content with relative truths, but seek to ascertain, 
in each instance, the real state of things ; the knowledge of 
which, in many cases, probably, could not be imparted to us 
with our present faculties, and is often withheld where it 
might. Such a student is likely to mistake the sense of the 
sacred writers, from not judging aright what kind of instruction 
it is that they designed to impart ; his religious notions are 
" spoiled through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradi- 
tion of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after 
Christ." And from such a view of the Scriptures, the conclu- 
sion that the doctrinal parts of them are unnecessary, unprof- 



* Essay IV. (First Series). 



ON APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS IN SCRIPTURE. 199 



itable, and unsafe to the great mass of Christians, will be the 
natural result. Both the learned and the unlearned will agree 
in taking this view of the Scripture doctrines : the presump- 
tuous inquiries of the one class have a direct tendency to sanc- 
tion and foster the indolent indifference of the other.^ 

2. And as nothing was further from the design of Paul 
and the other sacred writers than to frame a 

In language not 

philosophical system, so they aimed at no philo- scientific, but pop- 
lar. 

sophical regularity of language. Their writings, 
as I have before remarked, were popular, not scientific ; they 
expressed their meaning, on each occasion, in the words which, 
on each occasion, suggested themselves as best fitted to convey 
it to readers of plain understanding ; and these terms are to be 
understood, though not indeed always in their ordinary sense, 
yet, on the other hand, not according to any precise scientific 
definition, but each with reference to the context of the place 
where it is found. 

3. Again, it is this popular and unsystematic character of 
the sacred writings that makes it the more un- to be interpreted 
safe to dwell on detached portions of them, in- passT^^wlth an- 
stead of comparing each part of Scripture with 

the rest. Not merely incomplete knowledge, but actual error, 
will often be the result ; because it will often happen, as might 
be expected in an unscientific discourse, that the author has in 
view, in some particular passage, not the full development 
of any truth, but the correction of some particular mistake^ 
the inculcation of some particular caution^ or the enforcement 
of some particular portion of a doctrine or precept ; so that 
such a passage, contemplated by itself, would tend to partial, 
and, consequently, erroneous views. 

1 The sense of the term " niyster7," as employed by the sacred writers, is very 
commonly mistaken ; and the mistake has been a source of much error. See 
Parkhurst's Lexicon to the New Testament, on the word Muo'T^pto?'. See Note 
A, at the end of this Essay. 



200 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



4. And as it is hence necessary to call in tlie aid of dif- 
ferent parts of Scripture for the interpretation 

Especially those 

seemingly at vari- of each other, so those which appear the most 
at variance with each other — which, if taken 
singly, and strictly interpreted, would contradict each other — 
are, for that very reason, the most important to be brought 
together and contemplated in connection. The seeming contra- 
dictions in Scripture are too numerous not to be the result of 
design ; and doubtless were designed, not as mere difficulties to 
try our faith and patience, but as furnishing the most suitable 
mode of instruction that could have been devised, by mutually 
explaining and modifying, or limiting or extending, one anoth- 
er's meaning. By this means we are furnished, in some degree, 
with a test of the truth or falsity of our conclusions : as long 
as the appearance of mutual contradiction remains, we may 
be sure that we are wrong ; when we can fairly and without 
violence' reconcile passages of opposite tendencies, we may 
entertain a hope that we are right. 

Such must be the procedure of the candid inquirer after 
truth ; and by which, through divine help, he may hope to at- 
tain it. Those whose object is to find arguments in support of 
a favorite hypothesis, built on a partial view of Scripture, will 
often be no less successful in their object in finding texts 
that will serve to give plausibility to their own system, and to 
perplex an opponent. But that opponent will usually have 
exactly the same advantages on his side also; each party 
having apparently some portion of Scripture favorable to his 
scheme, and others which he can hardly reconcile with it, and 
both parties perhaps being equally remote from the truth, and 
guilty of the very same error as to their mode of interpreting 
Scripture. 



^ See Pascal's Thoughts, XIII. 12. 



ON APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS IN SCRIPTURE. 201 



§ TV. That the apparent contradictions of Scripture are 
numerous, — that the instruction conveyed by 

Apparent contra- 

them, if thej be indeed designed for such a dictions of scrip. 

, . . ture numerous. 

purpose, IS furnished m abundance, — is too 
notorious to need being much insisted on. 

We are told that God " repented of having made man upon 
the earth," — that he "repented of having made Saul king 
over Israel," — that " he repented him of the evil ; " and 
again, that " he is not the son of man that he should repent ; " 
and that " in him is no variableness nor shadow of turninj]^." 

We are told that " whosoever is born of God, doth not com- 
mit sin ; " jet again, bj the very same author, that " if we saj 
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves." ^ 

We read in one apostolical epistle that Abraham was justi- 
fied bj faith, and in another that he was justified by works. 

One discourse of our Lord's, in which he makes mention of 
the day of judgment, and describes the blessing and the curse 
respectively pronounced on those who have performed or reg- 
lected such charitable offices as feeeing the hungry, clothing 
the naked, and ministering to the sick, might seem to favor the 

1 " When the Apostle John says that ' whatsoever is born of God overcometh 
the world, and that every one who is born of God doth not commit sin,' it can- 
not be supposed that he meant to attribute to Christians moral perfection and 
impeccability, when, on the contrary, he exhorts them to ' confess their sins.' 
Far was it from his design to teach that one who did but feel convinced of having 
experienced the new birth, might safely remit his exertions and relax his vigi- 
lance against sin, and • count himself to have apprehended,' and to be thencefor- 
ward sure of divine acceptance and of everlasting life, without ' taking heed lest 
he fall.' On the contrary, he was writing, as is well known, in opposition to 
those Gnostics of his day, who were grossly Antinomian, and who, while they 
professed to ' have no sin ' in God's sight, and to be sure of salvation through 
their supposed ' knowing the gospel ' (gnosis), lived a life of flagrant immorality. 

" In contradiction to these monstrous tenets, he declares that every one who 
has a well-grounded ' hope in Christ, purifieth himself, even as he is pure,' — 
that a sinful life is inconsistent with the character of the ' sons of God,' — that 
the tendency^ in short, and suitable result of being ' born of God,' is opposed to 
the commission of sin." — Tract on Sacraments, pp. 49, 50. 



202 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



conclusion that our final doom is to depend exclusively on our 
care or neglect of our distressed brethren, without any regard 
to our faith, or to the purity or the integrity of our lives. In 
his final charge to his disciples, again, it might seem that every- 
thing is made to depend on right belief alone, — " He that be- 
lieveth and is baptized, shall be saved." 

We are told again by our Lord, to pray and to give alms 
secretly ; and again, to let our " light so shine before men that 
they may see our good works ; " and by the apostle, " not to 
forsake the assembling of ourselves together " for the purpose 
of worship. 

We are told by our Lord, " He that is not with me is against 
me ; " and again, " He that is not against us is with us," — that 
" he who hateth not his father and mother, and wife and children, 
and all that he hath, cannot be his disciple ;" and again, by his 
apostle, that " he who provideth not for his own house is worse 
than an infidel." 

The same, again, who tells his disciples, " the Father hath sent 
me " — "I go to the Father " — " the Father is greater than 
I " — " I can of mine own self do nothing," tells them, also, " He 
that hath seen me hath seen the Father : I am in the Father, 
and the Father in me : I and the Father are one." The 
same who tells them that he " will not leave them comfortless, 
but will come unto them," and " Lo, I am with you always, 
even unto the end of the world," tells them, also, " If I go not 
away, the Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I 
will send him unto you." Yet again he tells them of " the 
Comforter whom the Father wall send in his (Christ's) name ; " 
and again, in another place, " If any man will keep my saying, 
my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and 
make our abode with him." 

And he who was preached to Cornelius as one whom " God 
anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power," is spoken of 



ON APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS IN SCRIPTURE. 203 



by Paul as " over all, God blessed for ever," " in whom dwell- 
eth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."^ And instances of 
a similar character might be multiplied to a great extent. 

I am well aware what copious and satisfactory explanations 
have been given of a multitude of such seeming discrepancies 
as these: the only point that pertains to the present question, 
and which we ought, I think, strongly to dwell upon, is, that 
they are not to be regarded merely in the light of difficulties^ 
but rather as belonging to the mode of instruction employed in 
Scripture. Even in teaching moral duties there are good 
reasons for introducing, as we find is occasionally done, some 
maxims, which, taken separately, and interpreted with literal 
strictness, are at variance with each other ; but which, when 
taken in connection, serve to explain and modify each other. 
Instructions thus conveyed are evidently more striking and 
more likely to arouse the attention, and also, from the very 
circumstance that they call for careful reflection, more likely to 
make a lasting impression.^ 

But there are additional reasons for adopting this mode of 
conveying to us the requisite knowledge con- 
cerning mysteries which are not directly com- ^fg- InT^.""* 
prehensible by our understanding. Since no 
language could convey to man, with his present faculties, in 
proper terms, a clear and just notion of thos3 attributes and 
acts of the Supreme Being which revelation designed to im- 
part, it was necessary for this purpose to resort to analogical 
expressions, which may convey to us, in faint shadows and 
figures, such a knowledge of divine mysteries as is requisite, 
and is alone within the reach of our capacity.^ Kow the 
disadvantage attending the use of such language is, that 
men are sometimes apt to understand it too literally, and to 

^ See Appendix to Elements of Logic, Art. "Person." 
2 See the following Essay. 

8 See Archbishop King's Discourse on Pi-edestination. 



204 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



interpret what is said more strictly than was intended. And 
the best remedy against this mistake is to vary the figures 
employed as much as possible, — to illustrate the same thing 
by several cZ^^ere?2^ analogies, — by which means these several 
expressions, being inconsistent when understood literally, will 
serve to limit and correct each other, and thus, together, to 
convey more clearly the real meaning designed.^ 

What has been just said may be illustrated by the language 
we employ in speaking of the human mind and its operations, 
respecting which we have few or no terms that are not, origi- 
nally at least, borrowed from the material world. For instance, 
it is very common to speak of the memory as a kind of store- 
house or repository ; we speak of treasuring up things in 
the memory, of having the memory well stored^ and the like. 
Now there might be a danger that by the long and familiar use 
of such figurative expressions we should at length come to 
forget that they are figurative, — to imagine the brain to be lit- 
erally a kind of storehouse, and the ideas or notions to be some 
real things actually laid up within it. But this mistake is 
guarded against by another, and quite different set of figura- 
tive expressions for describing the same thing ; for we often, 
again, speak of the memory as a kind of writing-tahlet ; we speak 
of things being written^ imprinted^ engraved on the memory ; 
or, again, of their being erased from the memory. Now these 
expressions, again, would mislead men if understood literally ; 
but this is prevented by those other modes of expression before 
mentioned, which in their turn are limited and explained by 
these. For by considering that the two, when taken literally, 
contradict each other, — that the memory cannot be literally 
at once a storehouse and a writing-tablet, — we are habitually 
reminded that it is literally neither, but is so called only by 
analogy.^ 

1 See Stuart's Philosophy, Vol. I. 

2 See Elements of Logic, Dissertation, chap. v. § 1, towards the end. 



ON APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS IN SCRIPTURE. 205 

Now as we are thus unable to speak even of tlie workings 
of the human mind without using such figurative expressions, 
much less can we expect that all which is to be taught us of 
the things relating to the Most High can be conveyed to us in 
any other way. And in each case it is requisite that the fig- 
ures employed should be several and various, in order the 
better to guard us against understanding any one of them 
more literally than was intended. It was designed, therefore, 
that many of the expressions employed should be such as 
would, if strictly and literally interpreted, contradict each other; 
and such as may, when reconciled together, lead us as near 
the truth as our minds are capable of approaching. The 
mariner who has to steer his passage through the untracked 
ocean when it happens that he cannot have the exact line of 
his course pointed out, is often enabled to avoid any important 
deviation from it by being acquainted with certain boundaries 
on each side of it, and by keeping his vessel between them. 
Certain rocks and landmarks may serve to furnish to his eye a 
kind of line which will secure him, as long as he keeps within 
them, from certain shoals or currents which he is to avoid on 
one side of his destined course ; but this is of no service in 
guarding him against the dangers which may beset him on the 
opposite quarter : for this purpose another line must be pointed 
out to him, in the same manner, on the contrary side : and 
though neither of these lines is precisely that of the course he 
is to steer, yet an attention to both of them will enable him 
to proceed midway in safety, and in the direction required. 
Even thus it will often happen that two apparently opposite 
passages of Scripture may together enable us to direct our 
faith or our practice aright : one shall be calculated to guard 
us against certain errors on one side, and the other on the 
other side : neither, taken alone, shall convey the exact and 
entire truth ; but both, taken in conjunction, may enable us 
18 



206 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



sufficiently to ascertain it. Perplexity, therefore, and error 
must be the result of an undue preference and an overstrict 
interpretation of one or two such expressions, to the neglect 
of the others. For we have in many instances (to use another 
illustration) something corresponding to the composition of 
forces in mechanics : several different texts will be analogous 
to several impulses in various directions acting on a body 
which is to be set in motion, and whose combined effect will 
propel it in the direction required ; though no one of the im- 
pulses, taken singly, is acting precisely in that direction. 

§ V. After all, indeed, the notions conveyed to us in this 
The knowledge Way cau bc but vcry faint and indistinct ; but 
r"^^^^^^^^^ for that very reason they are the less likely to 
icai and indistinct. incorrcct ; for if we obtain a full and clear 
notion of things beyond the reach of the human faculties, it 
cannot fail to be an erroneous notion. The main object of rev- 
elation being to represent to us, not so much what God is in him- 
self as what he is relatively to us, with a view to our practical 
benefit, this object may be sufficiently accomplished by dim and 
faint pictures of things which could not otherwise be revealed 
at all. The " light which no man can approach unto," if pre- 
sented in unmitigated blaze to eyes too weak to endure it, 
would blind instead of enlightening ; we now " see, by means 
of the reflection of a glass," what we could not otherwise see 
at all. 

Although, however, we may well believe that we are deficient 
in faculties for comprehending, as they are in themselves, many 
things of which the Scriptures furnish us with some faint rep- 
resentations, yet since, of course, no one can form a distinct 
conception of the nature and extent of his own deficiency, it 
may be profitable to illustrate our own case by that of a per- 
son destitute of some faculty which we do possess ; by which 



ON APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS IN SCRIPTURE. 207 

means we may the better understand the nature of that mode 
of instruction which the Scriptures adopt, and the advantage 
and necessity of employing it for such beings as we now are. 
Let any one, for instance, attend to the case of a man born 
blind, and endeavor to convey to him some idea of the sense 
of seeing, and of the nature of light and colors. When you 
attempt this, you will then be in a situation answering in some 
degree to that of the inspired writers when they are instructing 
us in the unseen things of God. You might easily explain 
to the blind man that colors are perceived by the eyes, which 
convey to men (as well as the organs of the other senses, and 
even better) a knowledge of the objects around us ; you might 
also easily make him understand that light is something differ- 
ent from heat, and yet proceeds from the sun, a fire, a candle, 
or the like ; and that when nothing of this kind is present 
there is darkness, in which no one can see ; and also that light 
is cheerful and agreeable, and darkness something melancholy. 
So far, we are giving merely general descriptions ; which 
would be intelligible enough, but could convey only the most 
faint and imperfect idea of seeing. You might then impart 
some further knowledge by means of the analogy of the other 
senses ; for instance, you might teach him that seeing, in one 
respect, resembles hearing and smelling, inasmuch as it con- 
veys a knowledge of things at a distance, as they do ; but that, 
nevertheless, it is as different from either of them as they are 
from each other; and that, moreover, seeing gives us, what 
hearing and smelling can not, a notion of the magnitude and of 
the form of bodies, in which respect it agrees with the sense 
of touch ; though this last, again, conveys the knowledge of such 
bodies only as are close to us, whereas sight extends to a dis- 
tance. 

Now such instruction as this, given to a blind man, may 
serve to illustrate what has been just said about the apparent 



208 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



contradictions in Scripture ; for the blind man might easily in- 
terpret the two parts of this lesson as contradictory, and might 
say, " How can the same thing bear any resemblance to hear- 
ing, and at the same time to feeling?" Or he might regard 
even each part of the lesson as in itself contradictory and 
impossible — saying, " You would fain persuade me that there 
is some way of touching things at a distance ; or that there 
is a kind of hearing or of smelling by which one can judge of 
form and magnitude — neither of which is conceivable." And 
it is plain that if he regarded either part of your instruction 
hy itself^ and w^as not careful to limit and explain it by the 
other, he would be utterly misled ; for he would suppose seeing 
to be much more like some one of the other senses than it 
really is. But if he were careful to attend to the whole, 
together, and to consider that two things may be very much 
alike in one respect, and yet very different in others,^ and that 
the same thing may be compared to several others which are 
themselves quite unlike, and may resemble one of these things 
in one respect and another in another, and in some respects 
again may differ from all of them, he would acquire a faint, 
indeed, and indistinct notion of sight, but, as far as it w^ent, not 
an incorrect one. For he v^ould understand that sight in one 
respect corresponds, or is analogous, to smelling and hearing, 
inasmuch as it extends to distant objects ; and again, in another 
respect, to touch, inasmuch as it gives an idea of shape and 
size, — that it differs from each of these respectively in the cir- 
cumstance wherein it agrees with the other, and that it differs 
in many points from both : so that by interpreting each of 
these analogies in such a manner as to be reconcilable with 
the other, he would be using the best means to avoid misunder- 
standing either, and to attain the most perfect knowledge which 
his natural deficiency would allow. For if you attempted, 

1 See KiDg's Discourse on rredcstiiiation. 



ON APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS IN SCRIPTURE. 209 



bejond this, to give liim any distinct and precise knowledge of 
the nature of light and colors, you would be more likely to 
confuse and mislead than to instruct him. 

The circumstance that the knowledge conveyed to us in 
Scripture, in many cases, is not merely incomplete in degree, 
but, being conveyed to us by figures, is also different in hind 
from that more direct and perfect knowledge which we may 
hope hereafter to attain, is alluded to, perhaps, in that expres- 
sion of Paul's respecting the glorified state, — " whether there 
be knowledge, it shall vanish away." ^ We might have expected 
him, perhaps, to promise rather an increase and extension of 
our knowledge ; but it appeared to him, probably, that the 
knowledge we now possess concerning several points not fully 
comprehensible to us is so utterly different in kind from that 
which is reserved for us, that the change might more properly 
be called an entire vanishing of the notions we are at present 
able to form, and a substitution of others in their place. In 
like manner, if we suppose a blind man who had been instructed 
in the way just described to obtain sight, all those faint ana- 
logical notions of seeing, which we may conceive him to have 
formed, would fade away from his mind, and be succeeded by 
others imcomparably more direct and clear.^ 

Meanwhile, our care must be, during our state of trial here 
below, not to imagine our knowledge more complete than it is, 
nor to expect from the Scriptures such information as they 
were not meant to supply.^ We must not study them as de- 

1 1 Cor. xiii. 8-10. 

2 See the interesting and valuable account of a boy t)orn blind, and couched by 
Mr. Cheselden, extracted from the Philosophical Transactions, by Mr. H. Mayo, 
in his Physiology, p. 163. 

3 Has the reader ever attempted to state to himself distinctly what he under- 
stands by the term revelation; meaning, a revelation of the divine nature? Nei- 
ther the voice, the vision, the dream, nor the instinct can be said to be God. 
All are evidently vehicles and modes of communicating his messages to man. 

18* 



210 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



signed to convey, as it were, in terms of art, the speculative truths 
of philosophy ; but must seek, in the first instance at least, and 
with the greatest diligence, such truths as are relative to man, 
and practical : nor must we allow ourselves, in any case, to 
interpret strongly all the texts which seem to offer themselves 
on one side, while we explain away all that are on the other 
side ; as if on the ground that they are not to be taken literally, 
we were thence authorized to affix to them any signification 
whatever that may chance to suit our views ; but we must en- 
deavor honestly to reconcile Scripture with itself, and thus to 
avail ourselves of that mode of instruction which our divine 
Teacher has thought best for us. So shall we be enabled, 
though divine help, to avoid, or to diminish, many of the diffi- 
culties which presumptuous speculators, or partial and preju- 
diced inquirers, have to encounter in the Scriptures ; and we 
shall find them " able to make us wise unto salvation, through 
faith which is in Christ Jesus." 

* Him no man hath seen at any time.' Suppose, then, we wished to convey a 
description of an object of sight to one born blind (for that is our condition in 
relation to the divine nature); he may perhaps be made to receive some indis- 
tinct idea of it through his sense of hearing ; and the vehicle of this revelation, 
as it may be termed, would be a voice. Some contrivance may be afterwards 
invented which should convey to him the same description, by submitting to his 
touch figures representing it, or, as is done in some asylums, by letters and 
words strongly impressed, so as to be distinctly felt. If it had so happened that 
he was at length favored with the gift of sight (as occurred with some in the 
miraculous period of the church), that same description might be set before his 
eyes in a painting. Meanwhile, suppose him never yet to have witnessed the 
object itself thus variously represented ; he would then have become acquainted 
with it in three distinct ways, and have been enabled to improve and to apply 
his knowledge of it by means of each; still, he would hardly be absurd enough 
to make either of these assertions : 

"1. That the sounds, the figures, the writing, or the painting were the very 
thing described. 

" 2. That the variety in the mode of conveying the description implied any cor- 
responding distinction in that one object, the idea of which was thus variously 
communicated to him." — Hinds's History of the Rise and Progress of Christi- 
anity, Vol. 1. pp. 295, 296. 



ON APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS IN SCRIPTURE. 211 



NOTE TO ESSAY VIL 



Note A — Page 199. 

The ancient heathen had certain sacred rites in which were dis- 
closed, to those " initiated," certain secrets, which were carefully to 
be kept concealed from the uninitiated (aixvr\roC)^ the great mass of 
the professors of the religion. The apostle naturally makes allusion 
to these, by the use of the word " mystery," to denote those designs 
of God's providence, and those doctrinal truths, which had been kept 
concealed from mankind " till the fulness of time " was come, '* but 
now were made manifest " to believers. And he frequently adverts 
to one Important circumstance in the Christian mysteries, which 
distinguishes them from those of paganism ; namely, that while these 
last were revealed only to a chosen few, the gospel mysteries, on 
the contrary, were made known to all who would listen to and obey 
the truth, whether Jew or Gentile, bond or free, barbarian or Greek. 
All Christians were "initiated" (ovfxfjiifa-Tai, as one of the ancient 
Fathers calls them), and those only remained in darkness who wilfully 
shut their eyes ; " if our gospel be Jiid, it is to them that are lost, 
whom the prince of this world hath Minded." 

Now, our ordinary use of the word " mystery " conveys the notion 
of something that we cannot understand at all, and which it is fruitless 
to inquire into. I am not censuring this use of the word ; but if we 
interpret, according to our own usage, an author who employs it dif- 
ferently, it is plain we shall be misled. Both we and the sacred 
writers, indeed, understand by the word, something hidden from one 
party and known to another (for we suppose all mysteries to be 
known to God) ; but there is this difference, — that we use the word 
in reference to the party from whom the knowledge is withheld ; the 
apostles, in reference to those to whom the knowledge is revealed. 
Such an expression as, ^' this is a mystery to us," conveys to us the 
idea that it is something we do not and can not understand ; to Paul 
it would convey the idea that it is something which " now is made 
manifest," and which we are therefore called upon to contemplate and 
study, even as his office was " to make Jcnoion the mystery of the gos- 
pel/' Not that he meant to imply that we are able fully to understand 



212 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



tlie divine dispensations ; but it is not in reference to this their in- 
scrutable character that he calls them mysteries, but the reverse ; 
they are reckoned by him mysteries, not so far forth as they are 
hidden and unintelligible, but so far forth as they are revealed and 
explained. 

For another use of " mystery," to signify a symbolical representa- 
tion, see Parkhurst's Lexicon. 

It is in that sense that in the second of the post-communion prayers 
the bread and wine are called " holy mysteries ; " that is, emblems. 



ESSAY YIII 



ON THE MODE OF CONVEYING MORAL PRECEPTS 
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

In the preceding Essay some remarks were offered relative 
to the methods employed for communicating as 

Moral precepts of 

much as was needful to be known concerning the New Testa- 

, , ment often con- 

the more abstruse doctrines of our religion ; veyed in apparent 

, - , . 7 • . • 1 contradictions. 

namely, by apparent contradictions, — by ex- 
pressions which, if taken literally, would be at variance with 
each other; and which, consequently, must be mutually ex- 
plained and modified by each other, in order that they may be 
reconciled. And in this case the advantage of such a proced- 
ure is evident ; the things themselves are such as we are no 
more capable of distinctly and fully comprehending, than a 
blind man can the nature of light and colors. Such instruc- 
tion, therefore, as we ca7i receive concerning them, must be 
necessarily imparted according to the same principles by which 
we should convey to the blind some idea of sight ; namely, by 
employing several different analogies, each of which may serve 
to correct the others, and all of which in conjunction may convey 
a notion as nearly approaching to the reality as the case will 
permit. 

But (as was observed in that Essay) in the inculcation of 
moral precepts there cannot be the same reason for emj^loying 
this method as there is in doctrinal instruction respecting in- 



214 



WHATKLY S ESSAYS. 



scrutable mysteries. And jet there are not a few directly 
practical passages, in different parts of the New Testament, 
which, if taken literally, and in their full force, would contra- 
dict each other ; and such apparent discrepancies there are, not 
only between the waitings of the evangelists and the apostolic 
epistles, but also between different portions of our Lord's own 
discourses. Not only is Paul's censure of that man as " worse 
than an infidel," who neglects to " provide for those of his own 
household/' at variance with our Lord's declaration, " If any 
man hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and 
all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple," if both be under- 
stood literally, and without limitation; but also, according to 
such an interpretation, our Lord's own precept to his disciples 
to " let their light shine before men," would be no less opposed 
to his command that their prayers and alms should be strictly 
concealed. And his description, again, of the day of judgment, 
in which the performance or neglect of the works of charity 
seems to be the sole ground of distinction between the saved 
and the condemned, is apparently opposed not only to the 
apostle's declaration " by grace ye are saved, through faith, and 
that not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God," and to number- 
less others of the same character, but also to the literal import 
of Christ's own parting declaration to his disciples, which seems 
to make the absence or presence of a right belief the only point 
considered : " He that helieveth and is baptized shall be saved." 
And many other like instances might be adduced which plainly 
show that the system of instructing by apparent contradictions 
is not confined to doctrinal, but extends to practical points ; and 
that in both cases it is requisite to compare and balance, as it 
were, against each other, different parts of Scripture, if we 
w^ould gain a correct view of what it is intended to convey.-^ 

^ As I have treated of subjects nearly allied to the one now before us in the sec- 
ond, third, and fifth Essays of the First Series, it may be worth while briefly to no- 
tice in this place the connection, and also the distinction, between those and the 



ON THE MODE OF CONVEYING MORAL PRECEPTS. 215 



§ L For what purpose, then, it may be asked, did our 
Lord and his inspired followers resort to this Reasons for the 
method of instruction, in respect of those practi- I'^f^^r p^^^^^^^^^^ 
cal duties which are not, like the more abstruse '^^^ 
points of faith, beyond the reach of man's faculties ? In order 
to answer this question, it will be necessary to revert to some 
considerations which have been formerly suggested.^ 

Let it be observed, then, that it was no part of the scheme of 
the gospel revelation to lay down anything approaching to a 
complete system of moral precepts, — to enumerate everything 
that is enjoined or forbidden by our religion ; nor, again, to 
give a detailed general description of Christian duty, or to 
delineate, after the manner of systematic ethical writers, each 
separate habit of virtue or of vice. When the Mosaic law was 
brought to a close (a law of which we have no Scripture warrant 
for supposing that any part was intended to continue in force 
under the gospel dispensation, or to be extended to the Gen- 
tiles) — when this law, I say, was brought to a close, no other 
set of precise rules was substituted in its place. New and 
higher motives were implanted ; a more exalted and perfect 
example w^as proposed for imitation ; a loftier standard of mo- 
rality was established ; rewards more glorious, and punishments 
more appalling, were held out; and supernatural aid was 
bestowed ; and the Christian, with these incentives and these 
advantages, is left to apply, for himself, in each case, the 
principles of the gospel. He is left to act at his own dis- 

present Essay. I was speaking, in them, of a peculiarity (considering Christi- 
anity as compared with any human system) in the motives employed by the sa- 
cred writers for producing moral conduct, and also in the examples (of Jesus 
himself, Essay 11. and III., and of children, Essay V.) which they propose for 
our imitation and self-instruction. At present, I am considering their mode of 
conveying to us the precepts of morality. In all, it is the moral instruction of 
Scripture that I have been treating of; but, distinctly, of the different parts of 
which it (and indeed all complete moral instruction) consists; namely, 1st, the 
motives inculcated ; 2dly, the examples proposed ; Sdly, the precepts delivered. 
1 Essay V. 



216 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



cretion, according to the dictates of his conscience, to cultivate 
Christian dispositions, and thus to be "a law unto himself." 
From the exact regulations under which the Israelites, when 
in a condition analogous to childhood, were placed, he is re- 
leased ; not that he may be under a less strict moral restraint, 
but that he may attain, under the gospel system, a more manly 
self-government, a higher degree of moral excellence; even 
as the precise rules and strict control under which a child is 
placed, are gradually relaxed as he advances towards maturity ; 
not on the ground that good conduct is less required of a man 
than of a child, but, on the contrary, because the very maturity 
of age, which emancipates him from the trammels of childhood, 
renders him capable of regulating his conduct for himself by 
his own judgment. " Behold, the days come, saith the Lord" 
(according to the Prophet Jeremiah, cited in the Epistle to the 
Hebrews J, when I will make a new covenant with the house 
of Israel; not according to the covenant which I made with 
their fathei's .... for this is the covenant which I will make 
with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord : I 
will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their 
hearts." And hence it is, probably, that the Apostle James 
(i. 25) uses the expression of " the perfect law of liberty."^ 

The system, then, according to which the Christian's life is 
to be regulated, is one under which, not a less, but a greater 
degree of moral perfection is expected of him ; but which sub- 
stitutes sublime principles for exact rules. It is this system 
the apostle sometimes calls " faith," — sometimes " the law of 
faith," to distinguish it, not from good works, but from the law 
of Moses. It is called the law of faith, not because Christians 
are not (which he assures us they are) to stand before Christ's 
tribunal " to give an account of the things done in the body," 
but because their moral conduct is required to spring from 
faith, — from faith in the redeeming mercy of God, " who was in 

* See Introductory Lessons on Morals. 



ON THE MODE OF CONVEYING MORAL PRECEPTS. 217 



Christ reconciling tlie world unto himself," and the devout 
gratitude which is tlie natural result of this, — from faith in the 
divine holiness and purity of the Saviour, and the consequent 
desire to tread in his steps whose life is our example, — from 
that faith in his promised rewards which leads to the endeavor 
after such a preparation of ourselves as may qualify us to dwell 
" forever with the Lord," — from faith in his promised presence 
with us, even unto the end of the world, by his Spirit " which 
worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure." ^ 

Such a system, then, it was necessary so to develop that its 
true character might not be mistaken. Since Christians were 
not to be guided by a precise code of laws, it was necessary to 
guard them carefully against expecting one. And even during 
our Lord's own ministry, before the " law of faith " was per- 
fectly laid down (the objects of that faith being but faintly 
and partially revealed), still it was needful, even at the very 
outset, that men should not be led, or left, to suppose, that 
either a collection of exact rules, or a system of moral philoso- 
phy, was about to be proposed to their acceptance, — that either 
the Mosaic law was to remain in force as to the literal observ- 
ance of its several precepts, extended by the addition of others, 
or that any corresponding system, any fresh enumeration of 
specific acts forbidden and enjoined, was to be introduced in 
the room of it. And care was the more necessary on this 
point, both because man in general is more ready to receive 
even a burdensome law, of this character, than to be left to 
his own watchful and responsible discretion in acting up to 
certain principles, and also because the Jews in particular had 
been accustomed to precise regulations, and nice distinctions as 
to specific acts, even far beyond what the written law of Moses 
had laid down. 

And yet our Lord's hearers had need of some moral instruc- 
* Essay HI. (First Series.) 

19 



218 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 

tion. It was important that illustrations should be afforded 
them of the application of the general principles of the new 
religion to each particular point ; it was desirable to enforce 
such duties as were especially neglected, and to point out the 
comparative degrees of importance of such as had been unduly 
estimated : many prevailing faults and prejudices called for 
correction, and it was needful, universally, to guard against 
the supposition that the new covenant was designed to substi- 
tute faith for virtuous practice, and to save those who should 
" call Jesus Lord," while they continued " workers of iniquity." 
And as all this was to be accomplished in the course of a short 
ministry, and the instruction was to be conveyed to men for 
the most part of untutored and unreflective minds, it was the 
more important that the mode of conveying it should be as 
striking and permanently impressive as possible ; with a con- 
stant caution, at the same time, against the mistake into which 
the hearers were ever liable to fall, — that of imagining that 
they were to receive certain definite precepts, and satisfying 
themselves with a literal obedience to each. 

Something peculiar, then, may be expected in the mode of 
conveying moral instructions, when the object proposed com- 
prehended all the circumstances just mentioned, — when it re- 
quired that, besides being suited to the capacity and to the 
moral condition of the hearer, the precepts should at the same 
time be both forcibly impressive, and also such as to exclude 
the idea of any intention to lay down a complete moral code. 



§ II. In the moral lessons of the gospel, accordingly, three 
peculiarities especially may be observed, which 
have a reference to the circumstances I have 
noticed, and which may be explained by them. 

Firsts the precepts are often apparently con- 
tradictory to each other. 
Secondly, they are often such that a literal compliance with 



Precepts, a liter- 
al compliance with 
■which would be 
either impossible, 
or absurd, or un- 
important. 



ON THE MODE OF CONVEYING MORAL PRECEPTS. 219 



them would be, in many cases, either impossible^ or, at least, 
extravagant and irrational. 

And, thirdly, this literal compliance would in many instances 
amount to so insignificant and unimportant a point of duty, as 
could not be supposed deserving of a distinct inculcation for its 
own sake. And two, or all three, of these characters may 
sometimes be found to meet in one single precept. 

The reason of all this is clear, from the principles that have 
been already laid down : every mode is employed of warning 
the hearers against satisfying themselves with an observance 
of these precepts according to the letter, in doing or abstaining 
from some particular action. For, a literal compliance with 
precepts which, literally taken, are inconsistent, would be im- 
possible. Where that literal compliance would be wrong or ab- 
surd, it is manifest it could not be intended ; where it would 
be trifling, it is manifest that it cannot be all that is intended. 
And thus the disciples were driven, if they were sincerely 
desirous to learn, and would interpret rationally and candidly 
what they heard, to perceive that such precepts as I am speak- 
ing of were designed to explain and to enforce those general 
principles on which men are to regulate their conduct ; while 
the very circumstance that such instructions excite some degree 
of surprise, and evidently call for careful reflection, renders 
them the more likely to make a lasting impression. 

Many instances of each description will readily occur to 
most persons. I will advert to a very few. 

When Jesus tells his disciples to pray and to give alms in 
secret, and not to let their " left hand know what their right 
hand doeth," and yet exhorts them to " let their light shine be- 
fore men," it is plain from these precepts, taken in conjunction, 
and explained by each other, that his design was to discounte- 
nance an ostentatious motive, but to leave to our own conscien- 
tious discretion the mode of performing each action on each 



220 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



occasion. When tlie publicity of our alms and of our devotions 
appears likely to "glorify God," and to benefit men by the 
influence of a good example, the principles of the gospel pre- 
scribe that publicity ; in cases where it tends only to the grati- 
fication of our own vanity, and especially when we have reason 
to fear that we may be too much actuated by the desire of 
men's praise, then concealment is to be preferred. 

Again, when men's future destiny is described in one place 
determined by their performance or omission of the social 
duties, — in another, by the government of the tongue, — - in 
another, by belief and baptism alone, — in another (the par- 
able of the rich man and Lazarus), apparently by the luxuries 
enjoyed, or privations undergone in the present life, — w^e may 
easily learn, by comparing and balancing together all these 
passages, that no good works of man, not springing from belief 
in the gospel, can tend to salvation : yet that professions of 
faith in Christ are but a mockery of him when unaccompanied 
with active benevolence towards those whom he calls his breth- 
ren — that we shall be condemned or justified by our words as 
well as by our actions — and that those who set their hearts on 
the good things of this world, and lay up no treasures in heaven, 
can have no reasonable expectation of heavenly rewards. 

Again, the injunction in the passage before cited, to "hate 
father and mother," etc., if we be Christ's disciples,^ is not only, 

^ It may be observed, by the way, what an evidence to the truth of Christianity 
is afforded by this declaration of our Lord, together with his warning that every 
one who would be his disciple must be ready to take up his cross and follow 
him," and must, in imitation of a man designing to build, and of a king about to 
make war, coolly calculate beforehand whether he has resources and resolution 
sufficient to go through with the enterprise. All this constitutes so uninviting a 
doctrine, that we may be sure no one would have preached it who had any 
object in view except that of teaching the truth. 

We have here, therefore, one of those many internal evidences of our religion, 
which may be made completely intelligible to the unlearned Christian. For, 
common sense may convince any one, that, had Jesus been either an impostor or 
an enthusiast, he would never have entertained, and taught others to entertain, 



ON THE MODE OF CONVEYING MORAL PRECEPTS. 221 



if taken literally, at variance with the exhortations to univer- 
sal benevolence, and to Paul's command to provide for our 
families, but also to the plainest dictates of conscience and of 
common sense. This, then, is an instance which illustrates at 
once two of the principles above laid down. It is plain, there- 
fore, that such a precept could not be meant to be understood 
and obeyed literally ; and if there could be any doubt in what 
manner Christ intended it should be obeyed, he himself has 
given us in another place an explanation of it : " He that loveth 
father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me ; and he 
that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of 
me." It is evident, therefore, that what is intended by the 
command to hate the objects of our strongest regard, is, that 
the things of the greatest importance to our happiness, and 
which have the strongest hold on our affections, must be ac- 
counted by us as nothing, in comparison with our devotedness 
to Christ ; and that whenever any of these objects shall chance 
to stand in the way of our obedience to him, we must be ready 
to resign it without a murmur. 

Sacrifices of this kind were doubtless much more frequently 
called for in the first ages of the church than they are now ; 
because not only many were called on to abandon their homes 
and friends, and devote themselves to the propagation of the 
gospel in distant countries, but it also frequently happened that 
men's nearest and dearest connections were at variance w^ith 
them respecting the religion of Christ; and that they had to 
suffer persecution, or at least censure and contempt, from those 
very friends whose good opinion and regard they had been the 
most accustomed to prize : " Think not that I am come to send 

such a view of his religion. He would have used all means to invite men to be- 
come his disciples, instead of deterring them ; and would either himself have 
overlooked, or else concealed from the people, the difficulties to be encountered 
by those who should embrace the gospel, instead of pointing them out, and ear- 
nestly dwelling upon them. 

19* 



222 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



peace on earth ; I tell you nay, but rather division : the 
father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the 
father ; a man's foes shall be they of his own household." 

It is plain, therefore, that a man must have been, in such 
eireumstances, very strongly tempted to shrink from the bold 
and open profession of his faith, and to concede too much to 
the authority of those around him ; and accordingly we read 
of many leading men among the Jews who sought to com- 
promise the matter, by outwardly renouncing the opinions 
they inwardly held, — who believed in Jesus, but secretly," 
for fear of being " cast out of the synagogue ; for they loved 
the praise of men more than the praise of God." 

There is not, however, nor ever will be, any time or any 
country in which the sincere Christian is not liable to be called 
upon to make some sacrifices in the cause of Christ — to do, 
or to forego, or undergo, something which occasions a painful 
struggle to his nature ; and this our Lord exhorts us deliber- 
ately to prepare for, and, if we would be his disciples, to give 
him a most decided and strong preference to every object that 
may stand in the way of our faith or of our obedience to him. 
This he in another place very strongly enforces in a figurative 
form of expression, which, also, common sense teaches us, it 
would be absurd to understand literally ; saying, " If thine eye 
offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee ; " meaning thereby 
that whatever offends us as Christians, — that is, stands in our 
way, and obstructs our progress in following our Master's steps, 
though it may be as dear to us as an eye or a right hand, — 
must be renounced, thoroughly and heartily and cheerfully, for 
his sake, if we expect that he should own us as his disciples. 

Now this precept of plucking out an eye, or cutting off a 
right hand, is far from hard to be understood, as to the spirit 
and intention of it, and the disposition meant to be recom- 
mended ; and when it is understood, its effects will be, on those 



ON THE MODE OF CONVEYmG MORAL PRECEPTS. 223 



who sincerely study to comply with it, exactly what our Lord 
designed. They cannot in this case satisfy their conscience by 
a literal compliance with it in the performance of any specific 
act ; and, consequently, will the more naturally be led to cul- 
tivate that frame of mind, and study to adopt that principle of 
thorough devotedness to Christ, which he meant to recommend. 

Again, in inculcating the duty of gentleness and patience 
under provocation, he says, " If any man smite thee on the 
right cheek, turn to him the left also ; if any man will take 
away thy cloak, let him have thy coat also ; if any man compel 
thee to go a mile, go with him twain ; " in which it is evident 
that his meaning was, not the mere literal performance of 
those specific actions mentioned, but the cultivation of a mild 
and long-suffering temper. The strong way in which he de- 
livered those precepts — the striking and often paradoxical 
illustrations which he gave of them — had the effect of making 
a more lively impression on the hearers' minds, and at the 
same time guarded them, as I have just before observed, against 
supposmg that it was enough to perform, literally, the particu- 
lar actions mentioned, without adopting the principle of action 
which he was illustrating. This last instance, again, combines 
two of the circumstances above mentioned: the mere literal 
observance of the precept would not only be in many cases 
irrational, but also manifestly insufficient, and would fall far 
short of what is meant to be inculcated ; and hence a candid 
hearer is the more immediately led to understand that obedience 
to it implies not the bare performance of this or that particular 
action, but the careful cultivation of a certain habit of action. 

The same observations will apply to our Lord's precept 
against choosing " the most honorable seats at feasts ; " and his 
exhortation to men to occupy a lower place than they have 
a just title to. He did indeed intend that his rule respecting 
good manners should be literally observed, since good manners 



224 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



is a part of good morals ; but it is evident that this literal com- 
pliance was the least part of what he designed, and that he 
took this method of inculcating, generally, a caution against 
arrogance and self-exaltation. 

Universally, indeed, he was accustomed to illustrate what- 
ever principle he had in view by some particular instance, 
knowing that this would take better hold on men's attention, 
and be more surely fixed in their memory, than if he had con- 
fined himself to the mere general maxim ; and that would be 
very easy for any one, after being, by this exemplification, put 
in possession of the general maxim, to extend and apply it, for 
himself, to every case that might occur, supposing him to have 
the sincere disposition to do so without which no instruction 
can avail. 

Thus, when he was called upon to explain what kind of 
neighborly love we ought to show, and towards whom, he illus- 
trates his meaning by relating the parable of a man who " fell 
among thieves," and he concludes his instruction by saying, 
" Go and do thou likewise ; " which exhortation no one can be 
so stupid, if he be not also perverse, as to interpret by the 
letter, as meaning merely that when he might chance to meet 
with a traveller thus circumstanced, he should relieve him, and 
that precisely such a case as that in the parable was all that 
was contemplated. The interpretation of " Go and do thou 
likewise " was clear enough, to any one who wished to under- 
stand it, as signifying that we are to regard every one as a 
neighbor to whom v/e have an opportunity of doing service, and 
are to be ready to perform the kind offices of a neighbor to- 
wards him. 

But, as I have said, our Lord chose not only to illustrate his 
general maxim by some particular exemplifica- instance of the 
tion, but, also, in order to make it more clear 
to his hearers that this was his object, — that the instances ad- 



ON THE MODE OF CONVEYING MORAL PRECEPTS. 225 



duced were for tlie purpose of illustrating the general rule, — it 
happened very frequently, as in the case of some of the illus- 
trations just mentioned, that he selected by choice such as were 
in themselves the smallest and most insignificant instances of 
the rule. Thus, when he wished to impress on his disciples 
in the most forcible manner the duty of being ready to serve, 
and perform kind offices for one another, he taught them by an 
action^ by himself condescending to wash their feet, and after- 
wards telling them, " Ye ought also to wash one another's feet." 
This, it is well known, was, from the peculiar circumstances of 
the age and country, one of the chief refreshments to travellers ; 
this particular instance, consequently, was chosen as affording 
an easy and familiar illustration of the general disposition he 
designed to inculcate, — a readiness to perform all manner of 
kind offices for one another. Now if the particular office of 
kindness selected by him had been one of the more important 
services of life, there might have been the more danger of their 
supposing that his precept was meant to extend only to that 
particular service mentioned ; whereas this was guarded against 
by his particularizing one of the smallest: when he said to them, 
" Ye ought to wash one another's feet," they could not have a 
doubt that the precept was meant to extend to more than that 
one point of hospitality, and to comprehend a general disposi- 
tion to befriend one another. 



§ III. To those, then, who are sincerely desirous of instruc- 
tion, and willing to use care and diligence in 

The mode of in- 

seeking it, and in practically applying what they struction adopted 

- . ... . Tnr» 1 1 sufficient for the 

learn, it will, m most cases, be no difficult task to candid and diu- 
ascertain what principles those are which our 
Lord and his apostles intended, on each occasion, to inculcate, 
and in what manner Christians are required to exemplify them 
in their lives. 



226 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



If we first examine the whole of each passage, so as to un- 
derstand the occasion on which any precept was delivered, and 
to what persons, and under what circumstances ; and if we are 
also careful to compare different (and, especially, apparently in- 
consistent) passages together, — so interpreting each as it is 
explained, or limited, or confirmed, or extended, or otherwise 
modified by the rest, — we shall be employing those means for 
ascertaining aright the sense of God's word which common 
prudence would prescribe, which doubtless were intended to 
be employed in such an inquiry, and which, we may trust, 
by God's grace will not be employed in vain. 

On the other hand, the inattentive and the uncandid, those 
For the opposite ^^"^^ read the Scriptures without diligent study, 
lll^lZ:lZl or with a study only to find confirmations of 
Bufficient. their preconceived notions, and vindications of 

their own conduct, — such could not have been secured from 
error, even by any other mode of instruction that could have been 
adopted. Let it not be objected, therefore, to the method pursued 
by our Lord and his followers, that it affords an opening, for 
such as are so disposed, to escape from any doctrines or duties 
they may object to, and to model others according to their own 
inclinations, by dwelling on and enforcing literally such texts 
as suit their purpose, and explaining away the rest. The most 
precise and detailed precepts would have been no less success- 
fully evaded by the same persons. They would easily have 
found some contrivance, when they were so disposed, to " make 
the word of God of non-effect, by their tradition." 

And the most copious and philosophical system of ethics 
would have proved no better safeguard against the devices of a 
corrupt heart. Moral treatises afford no substitute for the ex- 
ercise of discretion and of candor ; philosophy cannot teach its 
own application ; on the contrary, such studies are useful to 
those only who employ that good sense and sincerity of inten- 



ON THE MODE OF CONVEYING MORAL PEECEPTS. 227 

tion, in bringing them into practice in the details of life. It is 
not enough (as the most illustrious of the ancient moralists has 
observed) ^ to laj down, that, in each department of conduct, vir- 
tue consists in the medium between an excess and a deficiency ; 
it still remains to be decided, in each single instance, where 
this medium is to be placed ; and as the determination of this 
is necessarily left to the judgment and conscience of the indi- 
vidual, so any one whose moral judgment is not incorrupt, and 
who is seeking, not to improve his character, but to vindicate 
it, may easily find means, first to represent, and afterwards to 
believe, his own conduct to be exactly the right medium. For 
the maxim laid down in another place by the philosopher just 
alluded to for applying his own rules, is one which the gener- 
ality of men completely reverse. He tells each man to observe 
to which of the two extremes he is, in each point, most prone 
by his own natural disposition, and to regard that as (rela- 
tively to him) the worse extreme of the two ; being the one into 
which he is the more liable to fall. The common practice, on 
the contrary, is for each to regard (as indeed, is very natural), 
that as the worse extreme to which he has the less tendency, 
and to look with less abhorrence on each fault, in proportion as 
it is the more congenial to his own inclinations. 

Without vigilant and candid self-examination, then, no sys- 
tem of moral instruction that could have been devised would 
have been practically available ; and with this, the instructions 
afforded in the gospel, will, through divine help, prove sufficient. 
There are two objects, neither of which a man will usually fail to 
attain, who zealously and steadily seeks it : the one is, the knowl- 
edge of what in each case he ought to do ; the other is, a plaus- 
ible excuse for doing as he is inclined. The latter of these, 
the carnally-minded might find in any set of precepts or moral 



* Arist. Eth. Nicom. Book YI. chap. i. 



228 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



instructions that could have been framed ; the former, the 
spiritually -minded will not fail to obtain in the gospel. 

Only let him not seek in it for what he will not find there, 
— - precise and minute directions for every case that can occur ; 
or a set of insulated maxims which admit of being taken away, 
as it were, from the context, and interpreted and applied with- 
out any reference to the rest of Scripture ; or for a general 
detailed description of moral duties. 

But he will find there the most pure and sublime motives 
inculcated ; the noblest principles instilled ; the most bold and 
uncompromising, yet sober and rational tone of morality main- 
tained ; the most animating examples proposed ; and, above all, 
the most effectual guidance and assistance and defence pro- 
vided, even that of the Spirit of truth, who will enable us 
duly to profit by the teaching of his inspired servants, that we 
"may have our fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting 
life." 



ESSAY IX 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

Those things which God's most favored servants under the 
old dispensation — which " many prophets and 

Indistinct notions 

kings had in vain desired to see and hear," the entertained at first 

T . , n -r -111 ' 1 ■ by the disciples of 

disciples 01 Jesus had been permitted to wit- the character of 
ness. They had seen the man whom " God had 
anointed with the Holy Ghost, " ^ and " given it unto him not 
by measure;"^ the '^mage of the invisible God,"^ "whom 
no man hath seen at any time," * but whom " the only-begotten 
Son had declared unto them, " ^ " being the express image of 
his person. " ^ Imperfect and indistinct, indeed, — perhaps we 
may say confused, — must have been the notions they enter- 
tained respecting the mysterious Being with whom they had 
been so long holding intercourse. Such must be our no- 
tions also concerning him, unless they be erroneous ; for the 
ideas we form on a subject surpassing the powers of our pres- 
ent minds, and which Scripture has but indistinctly revealed, 
cannot be, at once, dear and correct The disciples, however, 
had, during our Lord's abode with them, even more imperfect 
notions respecting him than they were afterward taught to 
form. He had " many things to say unto them which, as yet, 
they could not bear." But they " knew and were sure that he 

1 Acts X. 38. 2 John iii. 34. 3 Col. i. 15. 

4 IJohn iv. 12; also John i. 18. 5 Jolin i. 18. 6 Heb. i. 3. 

20 



230 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



was the Christ, the Son of the living God/' and that " he had 
the words of eternal life ; " and thej had latterly been further 
taught that they were not to regard him as merely bearing the 
commission of the Most High, like the prophets of old, nor 
yet as merely some being of a superhuman nature, whether a 
creature, or (according to the presumptuous fancies which 
afterwards prevailed) some -^non, or emanation from the De- 
ity, and partaking of the divine nature ; ^ for when asked by 
Philip, who probably was disposed to entertain some such no- 
tion, to show them the Father, he replied, " Have I been so 
long with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip ? He 
that hath seen me, hath seen the Father ; and how sayest thou 
Show us the Father ? Believest thou not that I am in the 
Father, and the Father in me ? ^ The words that I speak unto 
you I speak not of myself ; but the Father that d welleth in me 
he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and 
the Father in me ; or else believe me for the very works' sake " 
(John xiv.). 

1 The Gnostics {that is, men of" science, falsely so called," — men claiming, in 
the title they assumed, to be emphatically such as " knew the gospel ") taught 
the doctrine of successive emanations (" endless genealogies " alluded to by Paul) 
from the Deity (whom they call the " Fulness "), and one from another, of these 
celestial beings, in whom they personified many of the Scripture terms relat- 
ing to the character or the dispensations of the Most High; such as Logos 
(the Word), of whom they regarded Christ as an incarnation; Phds (Light), 
feigned to have been incarnate in John the Baptist ; Aletheia (Truth) ; Zoe (Life) ; 
Monogenes (only-begotten), and others. Without some acquaintance with this 
tissue of impious absurdity, it is impossible to understand fully the opening of 
John's Gospel. — See Hinds's History of the Rise and early Progress of Christi- 
anity, Vol. II. p. 49. 

Paul's expressions also, " In Him dwelleth all ihQ fulness of the Godhead bod- 
ily," " It hath pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell," have 
reference, probably, to the same heresy. 

2 This mode of expression seems to have been employed, as it constantly is, by 
our Lord, to guard his hearers against the notion of a local Deity, ~ against 
literally attributing p^ace to the divine mind. Thus he says, " Abide in me, and 
I in you \ " and, " The same dwelleth in me, and I in him, " etc. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPmiT. 



231 



§ 1. Well therefore might the disciples, when thus far taught, 
anticipate with grief and dismay the approaching 
loss of their Divine Master, — the destruction Promise of jesus 

' to send the Com- 

of " the temple of his body/' and the withdraw- ^^''^e^' 1^°^^^^^ 

to the first age, 

ing of this " manifestation of God in the flesh," nor relating to an 
with which they had been so long favored ; and prmciple, 
he most tenderly sets himself to relieve their 
fears and sorrows, by assuring them of his speedy return to abide 
with them for ever : " I go away, and come again unto you : a 
little while and ye shall not see me, and again a little while and 
ye shall see me." It was not, indeed, the bodily presence of their 
Master in the flesh that they were to look for as continuing 
with them " always, even unto the end of the world," as these 
and several others of his expressions would have led them to 
suppose, had there not been others to modify and explain them ; 
it was another Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father 
should send in Christ's name, that should teach them all things, 
and should "abide with" them "for ever." Yet still Jesus 
suffers them not to suppose that they were to transfer their love 
and allegiance to a new master, or to look for consolation and 
instruction to any distinct being from himself, though after his 
ascension he would no longer be, as heretofore, the object daily 
present to their senses. " That Spirit of truth," he said, they 
knew ; " for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you : " "I will 
not leave you comfortless : I will come unto you. Yet a little 
while and the world seeth me no more ; but ye see me : because 
I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I 
am in the Father, and ye in me, and I in you " ^ . . . . " he 
that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father, and I will love 
him, and will manifest myself to him my Father will 

love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with 
him : " " Abide in me, and I in you.^ As the branch cannot 

1 See Note (2), p. 230. 



232 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, 
except ye abide in me : . . . without me, ye can do nothing " 
(John XV.). 

That these promises and these precepts of Jesus were not so 
confined to the disciples then around him as to concern no other 
Christians, is most evident. If the apostles could bring forth 
no fruit except they " abode in him, and he in them," no more, 
surely, can we. He had expressly declared that he " prayed 
not for them alone, but for those also who should believe on 
him through their word ; " nor would his promise of being 
" with them always, even unto the end of the world," have been 
fulfilled, by the assistance bestowed exclusively on one genera- 
tion of mortal men. 

And it is equally clear, I think, to any one who seeks in 
earnest to be led by the Scriptures, that our Saviour's words 
are not to be explained as relating merely to a system of doc- 
trines and motives, — to an abstract religious principle^ — but 
to a real, individual, personal agent — even the Holy Spirit, 
operating on the minds of believers ; which is called, amidst 
the diversity of operations, one and the same Spirit, — not figu- 
ratively, as when we speak of the spirit of patriotism, the spirit 
of emulation, the spirit of philosophical inquiry, and the like? 
but literally and numerically one being, even the one God, whose 
temple is the whole body of the faithful ; which temple they 
are warned not " to defile, lest God destroy them." ^ For if any 
one could even so strain this last expression (as well as many 
other such) of the Apostle Paul, and likewise all the words of 
Christ himself, as to interpret them into mere metaphor, it would 
still be impossible for him to conceive a mere principle of action, 
— a Christian spirit, in that transferred sense of the word, — 
enabling Christians to work sensible miracles; and these we 

1 See The Three Temples of the one true God contrasted, by Bishop Hinds. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



233 



find distinctly attributed to the immediate agency of the Divine 
Spirit. 

One, indeed, of the many important uses of the miraculous 
gifts bestowed on the infant church, and one, doubtless, of those 
for which they were designed, was this : they served to prove, 
among other things, that the promised indwelling of the Spirit 
of Christ in his church was not to be understood as a mere 
figure of speech, denoting their adherence to the doctrines he 
taught, and the possession of the inspired record of them, but 
a real, though unseen presence, by his Spirit ; — not the mere 
keeping of his commandments through love for his memory, 
but a spiritual union with him, at once the promised reward, 
and the bond and support of that obedient love, — the effect 
at once and cause of our " keeping his saying." " For if any 
man love me," said he, "he will keep my saying; and my 
Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make 
our abode with him." 

Would Jesus have said this of any man (that is, every man) 
who loved him, if he had been speaking only of the apostles, 
and of those others who should receive miraculous gifts ? Or 
would Paul, in that case, when writing to the Romans, who 
had at that time received no miraculous gifts,^ have said, " The 
love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, 
which is given unto us : " . . . . " as many as are led by the 
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God .... if so be that 
the Spirit of God dwell in you : if any man have not the Spirit 
of Christ, he is none of his : ... . the Spirit itself beareth 
witness with our spirit " ? etc. 

And it is, I conceive, this, the more intimate union of the 
Spirit of Christ with his disciples, — more ultimate than that 
which existed while he was present with them in the flesh, — 
that he teaches them to regard as a ground for not only not 

1 See Horn. i. 11. 

20^ 



234 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



grieving, but rejoicing, at his departure, whicli was to lead to 
such a reunion : " K ye loved me, ye would rejoice." 

§ II. It may be said, however, that since " every good and ev- 
ery perfect ffift is from above," — since from God 

Difference be- ■ 

tween the Jewish "procccd all holy dcsircs, good counsels, and just 

and the Christian i ,» * * i * n 

churches in this works, WO must uot accouut Spiritual influence 
respect. pccuHar privilege of the gospel system, 

but must acknowledge that good men among the Israelites of 
old, if not among the heathen also, acted under the guidance of 
the Holy Ghost. Indeed, we find them even recognizing this 
influence by their prayers to God to " make a clean heart 
within them," etc. And yet, on the other hand, there can 
surely be no doubt that, under the gospel, some new manifesta- 
tion of God in the Spirit has taken place. We cannot suppose 
that the persons who, by our Lord's directions, were baptized 
into^ the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, — who were 
" born again of water and of the Spirit," in order to their entering 
into the newly-founded kingdom of heaven, — were admitted to 
no privilege which had not been all along enjoyed by their 
fathers, even from the creation. And every part of the New 
Testament confirms this view. Among the rest, we find in John's 
Gospel, " This spake he of the Holy Ghost, which they that 
believed on him should receive ; for the Holy Ghost was not 
yet"^ " because that Jesus was not yet glorified." And again, 
those twelve disciples whom Paul found at Ephesus, in his third 
apostolical journey, had " not so much as heard whether there 

1 Not " in the name," as it is in our translation; which probably in this and a 
few more instances showed too much deference for the Vulgate Latin version. 
That translates " in nomine; " a rendering plainly at variance with the original. 

2 " Given," is added by the translators. ¥lv€vjj,a ayiov seems used in this place 
and in others (as, for instance, in Acts viii. 15 and 19, and xix. 2), for spiritual 
influence^ or gifts. When the Holy Spirit is spoken of as a personal agenty the 
article is prefixed : Th fxyevfia, rh ayiop. 



O^T THE lOTLUENCE OF THE UOLY SPIRIT. 



235 



be any IIolj Gliost."^ Yet certainly they could not have been 
ignorant that God is a spirit. Nor can it well be supposed 
that they, and the Evangelist John in the passage just cited 
refer to the miraculous effusion alone, and call that extraov' 
dinary agency, especially and exclusively, the Holy Ghost ; 
since they must have known how frequently God had of old 
inspired the prophets, and enabled many of them to perform 
various miracles. 

In what, then, are we to conclude the difference consisted, 
between the Christian church and her predecessor, in respect 
of spiritual endowment ? Without presuming to decide on the 
degree of divine assistance bestowed on individuals under the 
two dispensations respectively (which would be presumptuous), 
this important distinction we may plainly perceive ; that, of the 
Christian church the Holy Spirit is the pkomised and perma- 
nent Comforter; he is the jpromise of the Father," sent that 
" he may abide with us for ever'' Whatever sanctifying aid 
may have been, in fact, supplied under the old covenant, it 
was no jpart of that covenant ; of the Christian covenant, it 
is. God the Holy Ghost — God manifest in the Spirit — was 
not the permanent ruler of the former church, as he is of the 
Christian. As for the divine communications to the prophets, 
and the miraculous powers bestowed on them and on others, 
under the old dispensation, these were not continuous, but 
occasio7ial. Inward sanctifying grace^ again, bestowed on the 
humble and pious, may have been, for aught we know, constant, 
but was not promised. And hence the Jewish people was never 
called, like the Christians, the " temple of the Holy Ghost." ^ 

What the Apostle John, therefore (as well as those disciples 
at Ephesus), meant by the Holy Spirit, — which, he says, " was 
not yet" (oi^ttw rjv), — must have been, this covenanted andper- 

1 See a discourse on this subject in Bishop Copleston's Eemains. 

2 See this view more fully expanded in Bishop Hinds's Three Temples. 



236 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



petual manifestation of God in the Spirit (a manifestation now 
to faith only, though at first confirmed by sensible miracles), as 
the Governor, Protector, Consoler, in short, Paraclete, of the 
Christian church. For we are Christ's hody ; and " hereby know 
we that he dwelleth in us, by his Spirit which he hath given 
us." These considerations alone would be sufficient to prove, 
were other proofs less abundant, that the promised presence of 
God with the Christian church cannot, without setting Scrip- 
ture at defiance, be understood as referring merely to the wriU 
ings of the New Testament, which he inspired ; since that would 
give us no advantage over the Jewish church ; for " holy men 
of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 

§ III. The promise of Christ, however, that he would always, 
even unto the end of the world, be with his 

Points ^"6- , 

semblance, and of church, which IS thus coustitutcd " the temple 

our^^condiUoiT'^^S of tlic Holy Gliost that dwelleth in it," is not 

christilnf iri^^^^ understood by all in the same extent. While, 

first age, in respect hand, somc cntliusiasts have pre- 

of spiritual irt/ifs, ' 

tended to inspiration, and other miraculous gifts, 
many, on the other hand, who are far removed from this error, 
but who are satisfied with vague and careless notions, have a 
sort of general idea of spiritual aid not being wholly withdrawn 
from Christians, but bestowed in a much less degree than on 
the saints of the primitive times ; without seeking to determine 
the measure, or the kind of spiritual assistance to be reasonably 
hoped for by each class respectively, or the signs by which 
each might recognize its presence. 

And yet it might naturally be supposed, that, inscrutable as 
the nature of God must be to his creatures, and little as they 
can understand of the reasons and the modes of his dealings 
with them, at least we should be capable of knowing what the 
spiritual aid is that we are taught to look for, and commanded 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



237 



to pray and to strive for. The humblest peasant who subsists 
hy the labor of his hands, may be left ignorant, indeed, of the 
process by which corn vegetates in the earth, or supplies nu- 
triment to the human frame ; but it is needful for his natural 
life that he should understand how to gain his daily bread, 
which he is taught to pray for, and to distinguish it from what 
is useless or noxious ; and it is no less needful that the plain- 
est Christian should be able to understand how his spiritual 
life is to be supported, — the welfare of his soul secured ; and 
should be capable of guarding against any dangerous error on 
the subject. 

It is desirable, therefore, that both the resemblances and the 
differences between our condition and that of the primitive 
Christians in respect of this point, should be as accurately laid 
down as possible, and should be frequently dwelt upon ; since 
the worst consequences may result from either underrating or 
overrating the spiritual aid to be expected by Christians of the 
present day. 

Thus much is generally admitted : that the promise of the 
Holy Spirit extended to both classes of Christians, but that 
the sensibly miraculous gifts bestowed on the early church 
have been long since withdrawn ; and these are usually, and 
very suitably, called the extraordinary gifts, as bestowed at a 
particular time, and for an especial purpose, and are thus dis- 
tinguished from what are called the ordinary operations of the 
Spirit, as needful alike for all Christians, and at all times. A 
more particular consideration, however, of some of the several 
points of resemblance, and of difference, between the two 
cases, is requisite, for the purpose of guarding against some 
prevailing errors, and of calling attention to doctrines not 
always sufficiently noticed, or adequately developed. 

And this inquiry falls naturally under two heads (which, 
however, cannot be kept entirely distinct) ; namely, first as to 



238 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



the different classes of gifts themselves ; and secondly, as to the 
tokens by which the presence of each is to be known — the way 
in which each kind of spiritual influence is to be recognized. 

§ IV. First, then, the display of " signs and wonders," in 
the primitive church, constitutes one ^reat dis- 

Miraculous gifts 

peculiar to the tiuctiou bctwecn their casc and ours ;^ but this 

primitive church. 

distinction being acknowledged, we should con- 
sider attentively on whom, and for what purposes, these mi- 
raculous gifts were bestowed. For it is not unnatural, nor, I 
believe, uncommon, to regard the persons who were thus gifted 
as holier, and more highly favored of God, than Christians of 
the present day, — as saints , in some different sense or degree 
from anything that we are required or allowed to become.^ But 
an examination of the case will plainly show that we have no 
reasons for regarding the Christians thus gifted as having any 
such advantage over us. It is not necessary to enumerate and 
discuss the several kinds of extraordinary gifts ; it is plain 
that they were not such as can be supposed to have been be- 
stowed for the direct benefit of the possessor. The gift of 
tongues, for instance, or of prophecy, or of healing the sick, 
could not, of themselves, and immediately, conduce to the sal- 
vation of the persons thus gifted. But, more than this, they 
did not even afford proof that such persons were completely 
acceptable to God, and in a safe state in respect of their sal- 
vation ; for, strange as it may appear to us, there is no possi- 
bility of doubting that several of them not only incurred the 
apostle's severe rebuke for their misconduct, but, among the 
rest, were censured for a vain and contentious display of these 
very miraculous endowments. They showed a carnal mind, 

1 For it is not necessary at present to enter into an examination of the false 
pretensions of some impostors and enthusiasts, who have professed to work sensi- 
ble miracles. 

2 See Sermon on Christian Saints. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



239 



not only while possessed of extraordinary spiritual gifts, but 
even in the very employment of those gifts. 

It appears probable, indeed, that the apostles (who alone 
had this powei-^) conferred some extraordinary gift or other on 
every one, without exception, of the converts who came in their 
way, as a token and pledge of their being in truth a holy peo- 
ple to the Lord. At least, no mention is made of their be- 
stowing these gifts on some and not on others ; and certainly, 
whether they made any selection or not, they did not, as we 
plainly find, confine the gifts to such as it was foreseen would 
make a right use of them. 

For what purposes, then, were these gifts bestowed ? Princi- 
pally, we may conclude, for these three : First, ^^^^ 
for the satisfactory conviction and assurance of ^^^^^ bestowed, 
the minds of the possessors ; secondly, for the propagation of 
the religion ; and thirdly, for the edification of the church. 

And, first, some external sensible operations of the Spirit 
must have been highly important, at least to satisfy the minds 
of the first Christians of his actual presence among them. 
They had so far shaken off their Jewish and heathen prejudi- 
ces (prejudices which we of the present day can hardly bring 
ourselves adequately to estimate) as to receive the religion of 
Christ crucified, " to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the 
Greeks foolishness." They had acknowledged that the eter- 
nal God, the Author and Ruler of the universe, had been 
manifested in the flesh, incarnate in an obscure, despised, and 
persecuted peasant, who had been executed as one of the vil- 
est of criminals ; and on being baptized into this faith, they 
were further required to believe that they were thus " born 
again of water and of the Holy Spirit," — that he, the same 
All-present God, dwelt in an especial manner in the church, of 
which they were become members, as in a most holy temple, 

1 Acts viii. 16. xix. 6. Kom. i. 11, etc. 



240 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



and was ever at hand to sanctify and guide them. " Know ye 
not/' says Paul, " that ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost, 
which dwelleth in you ? " Now all this was so opposite to all 
their former notions, — so strange to all their habits of thought, 
that they might well need some special assurance of such a 
doctrine as this last, — some support against the uneasy doubts 
and suspicions which might suggest the question, " Is the 
Lord among us, or not ? " And such an assurance was gra- 
ciously afforded them in the sensible testimony of his presence, 
which God displayed by conferring powers manifestly mirac- 
ulous.^ Those, for instance, who received the gift of speaking 
in, or interpreting, a language they had never learned, could 
not suspect that they had been deceived by a false teacher, 
or that they were under the delusion of a heated imagina- 
tion. They would have ground for undoubting confidence, 
therefore, that they were indeed born of the Spirit, and living 
stones of that holy temple, not made with hands, in which he 
resides. Not, however, be it observed, that they were to re- 
gard their extraordinary gifts as the only, or as the most im- 
portant, instance of spiritual influence, but as the proof and 
pledge of it. The truly important benefit was, the sanctifi- 
cation by the Spirit, with a view to eternal life ; the miracu- 
lous power was the seal and the earnest of that benefit, — the 
sign and notification, as it were, that the treasure had been 
bestowed (not the treasure itself). 

Secondly, these extraordinary gifts were needful, in various 
ways, for the propagation of Christ's religion, — to furnish 
those who preached it with credentials, as it were, from heaven, 
to prove the divine origin of the religion, and also to enable 
all nations to " hear in their own tongues the wonderful works 
of God." 

Thirdly, divers extraordinary gifts (probably those desig- 
1 Hinds's History, etc. Vol. 1. 227. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPmiT. 



241 



nated as the " word of wisdom/' " the word of knowledge/' 
and " the word of prophecy ") were evidently needful for the 
edification of the infant church — for the supply of instruction, 
both in doctrines and in moral duties, to those whose Divine 
Master had not left behind him (like Moses) a book containing 
the principles of Christian faith and practice, but had left, in- 
stead, the promise of his Spirit, who should " lead them into 
all [the] truth." 

Such, principally, appear to have been the peculiar wants, 
and such the peculiar supply of those wants, in the infant 
church. We have the records of inspiration in the writings 
of the apostles and their followers, which supersede the neces- 
sity of inspiration in ourselves : we have the history of their 
miracles preserved, w^hich, together with the result of the mir- 
acles, — the establishment and existence, at this day, of the 
religion, — afford a sufficient evidence of its truth, to all who 
are open to conviction ; since experience — now, long experi- 
ence — has proved that all attempts to account for its establish- 
ment by human means are vain. And as the blaze of the 
pillar which guided the Israelites in the wilderness, and proved 
to them the divine presence among them, was withdrawn when 
they were sufficiently convinced of that presence, and, as it 
were, familiar with the belief that the Lord was among them 
as their protector and king, — the manifestation of " the glory 
of the Lord" being thenceforward enclosed within the most 
holy place, — so the outward and sensible marks of God's pres- 
ence in his church were gradually withdrawn, when sufficient 
evidence had been afforded of that presence ; which is still 
not less real, or less effectual than before, and which is no longer 
miraculously displayed, only because it has been already suffi- 
ciently proved.^ 



1 1 am indebted for this remark, and for several others in the present Essay, to 
21 



242 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 




consistency. We have, accordingly, nothing of sufficient au- 
thority recorded on the subject ; indeed, much has come down 
to us respecting miracles, pretended to have been wrought long 
after the apostolic age, which we have good reason for regard- 
ing as fabulous. The sacred writers, however, furnish us with 
grounds for at least a highly probable conjecture. It was 
through the laying on of the hands of the apostles only, that 
extraordinary gifts were for the most part conferred, as may 
be proved from several parts of the New Testament, particu- 
larly the account in the Acts (chap, viii.) of the preaching of 
the gospel by Philip the evangelist to the Samaritans, who 
were afterwards favored with a visit, chiefly, as it appears, for 
this express, purpose, by the Apostles Peter and John. And 
the same may be collected from the opening of the Epistle to 
the Romans. Such, then, being the mode in which, exclusively, 
miraculous powers were conveyed (with no exception, appar- 
ently, except the case of Cornelius and his household — for 
which there was an obvious reason), the result must have been, 
that when all the apostles had terminated their course on earth, 
all the channels must have been stopped through which this 
stream had hitherto flowed ; and as the last generation dropped 
off, one by one, of such as had thus been gifted, this extraor- 
dinary manifestation of the Spirit gradually became extinct. 

§ V. These extraordinary endowments, then, constitute one 
Extraordinaiy important difference between the early Chris- 



and ordinary oper- 
ations of the Spirit 
compared. 



tians and ourselves ; but the corresponding 
point of resemblance is one of far higher impor- 



that most interesting and useful work, Hinds's History of the Rise and early 
Progress of Christianity, first published in the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



243 



tance ; for we have no reason to suppose that that spiritual 
influence which is conferred for the benefit of the individual 
Christian, — • for his moral improvement and purification — 
for his support and guidance in the road to eternal life, — is 
bestowed in any less degree on sincere Christians at the pres- 
ent day than formerly. Now this surely is of incomparably 
higher importance than the miraculous gifts we have been 
speaking of. These last without the other — without, that is, 
the proper use having been made of the other — would be 
utterly worthless. The sanctifying influence of the Spirit, if 
we so walk after it as to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, 
hath the " end of everlasting hfe." " Many," says our Saviour, 
" shall say in that day, Lord, we have in thy name cast out 
demons,^ and in thy name done many mighty works. Then 
will I say unto them, I know you not ; depart from me all ye 
workers of iniquity." And again, "In this rejoice not, that 
the demons are subject unto you ; but rather rejoice because 
your names are written in heaven." 

And Paul, in like manner, when he has been enumerating 
and comparing together the various extraordinary spiritual 
gifts, which had been a subject of emulation and dissension 
among the Corinthian Christians, concludes by utterly depre- 
ciating all of them in comparison of that which he calls a 
"more excellent way." This he designates by the word 
" agape," which in most places is rendered " love," but in the 
passage in question, " charity." It appears, however, to have 
been employed in this place to denote collectively all the sanc- 
tifying efficacy, — all of what we call the ordinary operations 
of the Holy Spirit ; this gift being at once the great proof and 
instance of Christ's love to his church, — the ground of the 

1 The Devil {Aid^oKos) is used as a designation of Satan, and, of course, always 
in the singular: the plural, which has been injudiciously rendered devils, is 
demons (Aat.uoVta). See Lectures on Good and Evil Angels. 



244 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



love of Christians towards their Master, and also the bond of 
their brotherly love towards each other, — not as fellow-creatures 
merely, but as fellow-members of Christ's body. The circum- 
stance of the apostle's setting " agape " above faith and hope 
(t7L(7tl<s and iXirU), not merely as the greatest of the three, but 
as including the other two, because it " kopeth all things, and 
helieveth all things " {iravra IXnrLt^ei, Tvavra TncrTevei), seems to 
indicate that he was not in this case confining his view to 
Christian benevolence alone ; and if any one will compare the 
fruits of ayaTTT), as enumerated in the 13th chapter of the First 
Epistles to the Corinthians, with " the fruits of the Spirit " in 
the 5th chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians,^ in the origi- 
nal, he will perceive such a striking coincidence in the Greek 
words employed in the two passages (much more striking than 
an English translation exhibits) as will leave little doubt that 
the same train of thought was in the writer's mind in both 
instances.^ 

It may appear superfluous, however, to adduce Scriptural 
proofs of what is in itself so obvious as the superior value of 
sanctifying grace to miraculous endowments. But as long as 
language is employed by mankind to express their thoughts, 
there will always be a danger of their thoughts being influ- 
enced by language ; and unless an especial attention is directed 
to this danger, the best-chosen expressions will ever be liable 
insensibly to become a snare to us. The ordinary/ and the 
extraordinary operations of the Holy Spirit, have been very 
^tly so termed ; but these words are likely, if we are not on 
our guard against the danger, to suggest to us, gradually and 
imperceptibly, an erroneous idea. Extraordinary abilities 
place a man much above one of ordinary: extraordinary 

1 Compare also these passages with Rom. v. 5, and xv. 80. 

2 See Hinds's History of the Rise and Progress, etc. Vol, II. p. 221, 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPHIIT. 



245 



merit is something much greater and better than ordinary ; and 
the like in many other eases. Such an employment, therefore, 
of those words, is apt to lead men insensibly to form an in- 
distinct notion of some very superior advantage possessed by 
those endowed with the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, espe- 
cially as the title of saints is commonly applied in Scripture 
to the early Christians as equivalent to that title ; while by us 
it is limited to a few of the most eminently pious that are 
recorded.^ If one were even to hint at the possibility of any 
man's becoming, in the present day, as perfect a Christian as 
one of the apostles — of any set of Christians now, attaining an 
equality with the best of those primitive Christians, — becoming 

1 The application (among Protestants) of the title " saint," in the present day, 
seems somewhat anomalous. It is never applied to the indisputably holy (sancti) 
and even inspired persons who lived under the Jewish dispensation, — such as 
Moses, David, Daniel, etc., — nor is it limited to such Christians (uamelv, the apos- 
tles and evangelists) as were confessedly inspired; for Protestants commonly 
speak of Saint Jerome, Saint Augustine, etc., without attributing inspiration to 
them ; nor again is it considered allowable to characterize by that title such men 
of later days as appear to us eminent for Christian knowledge and virtue; as, 
for instance, the chief promoters and martyrs of the Reformation. All this 
surely tends to foster the notion that in the earlier ages of Christianity some 
men, at least, were able to attain a higher degree of Christian holiness than any 
one can hope for, or need strive for, now. 

If we should adopt the system of having regularly enrolled in a list or canon 
the names of all who are to be designated " saints," taking that title to imply 
one whose merits entitle him to be invoked as an intercessor for others, — and 
claiming for ouselves an infallible judgment as to who did or did not answer to 
this description, — then, no one would be at a loss when to apply the title of 
'* saint." The system would be at least consistent and intelligible, though wholly 
without Scriptural warrant. 

I would suggest, however, to Protestant preachers the importance of frequently 
reminding their hearers, — at least the middle and lower classes, that is, a large 
majority of most congregations, — that it is a mistake (and I believe it to be a very 
common one) to suppose that the admonitions and exhortations which the apostles 
address to the " saints " do not concern, or do not equally concern, Christians in 
the present day; or that they are " not expected to be saints." To assume that 
title, indeed, as distinguishing them from their fellow-Christians, is most pre- 
sumptuous; but the gospel promises are limited to those who live " as becometh 
saints." — See Sermon on Christian Saints. 

21* 



246 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



saints in as high a degree as those who are usually so called — 
the very idea would be reprobated by many persons as an 
almost impious presumption ; though, in fact, there is much 
more presumption in expecting God's eternal favor while we 
are content to remain inferior. 

Not that men deliberately assent to the proposition that the 
power of working miracles is a better thing than a pure and 
holy mind, nor tliat they can be ignorant, if they are but mod- 
erately versed in Scripture, of the recorded imperfections of 
many thus gifted, even in their manner of exercising these 
very gifts ; but the use of the word extraordinary^ together 
with the perceptible and striking character of these endow- 
ments, and our habit of prizing the most highly what is rare, tend 
to leave a sort of vague impression on the mind, of some preem- 
inent sanctity in those who were partakers of them, above what 
is attainable in the present day. The splendid accompaniment 
which testified to them the reality of the spiritual influence 
bestowed, is apt to enhance in our minds the value of the ben- 
efit thus attested, above that which is still placed within the 
Christian's reach. But if we attentively consider the case, we 
shall be convinced that the Lord has not given to the one class 
of Christians any advantage over the other, in that which tends 
to the spiritual welfare of the individual Christian and leads to 
the salvation of his soul, — that his promise to be with his church 
always, and to dwell spiritually in the hearts of those who love 
him and " keep his saying," extends equally to all who equally 
strive to fulfil that, the condition of it, — and that our situa- 
tion resembles that of the primitive Christians in all that is 
essential, and differs from it only in circumstances which were 
not only temporary, but comparatively unimportant. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPmiT. 



247 



§ yi. Hitherto I have been comparing together the case 
of the early Christians and our own, principally 
with a view to the intrinsic character of the t'^ns compared 

with these of the 

spiritual gifts themselves that were promised. I present day in re- 
peat of the signs of 

shall proceed (according to the division men- the gifts bestowed 
tioned, § III.) to offer some remarks on the ^^^^* 
signs by which the two classes of gifts — the influence of the 
Spirit in these two modes of operation, the extraordinary and 
the ordinary — are, respectively, to be recognized and ascer- 
tained. We shall hence be led to perceive some further points 
of difference and of resemblance between the condition of the 
first Christians and our own ; and may thus be more effect- 
ually guarded against each of those opposite errors which are 
but too prevalent, — that of neglecting or depreciating those 
inestimable gifts which are placed w^ithin our reach, and that 
of pretending to, or expecting, such as are not promised. 

When our Lord said to his disciples, " If ye have faith^ and 
doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is Faith required in 
done to the" fig tree, but, also, if ye shaU say ^teMo^oAmS- 
unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be 
thou cast into the sea, it shaU be done," — it is plain that the 
faith which in this and in several other passages he was 
inculcating on them, is not to be understood of mere belief 
in Jesus as the Messiah, or in the doctrines of his religion, or 
of trust, generally, in divine power and goodness. It evi- 
dently has reference to miraculous powers, such as are not 
bestowed on all Christians ; though faith, in another sense, 
is required of all. But in this, and other declarations of like 
import, there can be little doubt that our Saviour had in view, 
confidence in those admonitions and injunctions which his dis- 
ciples and many others of the early Christians from time to time 
received^ authorizing and empowering them to work certain 
miracles. Their extraordinary gifts were not, as those of 



248 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



Christ himself were, at their own cornmand. Even Paul, who 
performed so many mighty works, and, among others, possessed 
the gift of healing in a high degree, yet was not always per- 
mitted to exert this gift, even in favor of his dearest friends.^ 
A special commission seems to have been requisite to enable 
them to exercise their delegated powers. And this was con- 
veyed to them — their commission and call to perform mira- 
cles was announced to them — in various ways. During our 
Lord's abode on earth in the flesh, he himself, whose author- 
ity they could not doubt, uttered commands to this purpose 
with his own lips. Besides the general commission given to 
the apostles and to the seventy, we find him on one occasion 
giving a precise direction to Peter to cast a hook into the sea, 
and to take the fish that first came up, in whose mouth he 
should find the piece of money (a stater) which the exigency 
required ; in another instance, he, at the request of the same 
apostle, commanded him to come and meet him on the surface 
of the water. Peter seems to have well understood that his 
Master's command was at once requisite and sufficient to enable 
him to tread the waves without sinking. But even after he 
had begun to experience the efficacy of that command, his 
faith was shaken by alarm, and he began to sink, and was 
reproached by his Master for his doubts. The faith in which 
he was in this instance found deficient, seems to have been 
precisely that which our Lord on other occasions so earnestly 
inculcated.^ 

After our Lord's ascension, some other kind of indication 
must have been given, by which those who were on each 
occasion authorized to work any miracle, might know that they 
xoere thus empowered ; a species of revelation, in short, must 
have been bestowed, informing them what they were enabled 
and required to perform ; and in this revelation they were 

1 See 2 Tim. iv. 20. 2 See Lectures on the Apostles. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 249 



required to have a full faitli. Whatever mode may have been, 
in each case, employed for conveying this revelation, the indi- 
cation given must always have been something in which they 
could not be mistaken, — something as free from all doubt or 
suspicion as the words which they heard Jesus utter while with 
them ; since, otherwise, this unhesitating faith could not rea- 
sonably have been required of them. It must have been some- 
thing, therefore, which could not possibly be confounded with 
any suggestions of their own minds. 

This is a point concerning which we have no precise state- 
ments in Scripture ; but the nature of the case puts it, I think, 
beyond a doubt, that the intimations or signs we are speaking 
of must always have been accompanied by, or connected with, 
something sensibly miraculous. For otherwise we must sup- 
pose the disciples to have been left exposed to a double dan- 
ger, — that of mistaking any remarkable dream, or impression on 
their waking minds, from natural causes, for a communication 
from the Spirit, — in which case they would have given faith to 
a delusion, and have been disappointed in their expectations, 
contrary to our Lord's express promise ; and that of mistaking, 
on the other hand, some heavenly communication for an or- 
dinary dream or thought — in which case they would have 
failed in faith without any fault of their own. God certainly 
would not leave his servants in any such uncertainty ; and they 
could not possibly be secured from it in any way but by the 
intervention of sensible miracles. 

I have said, however, that the intimation in question must 
be either accompanied by, or connected with^ some sensible 
miracle, because such a proof to the party concerned of his not 
being deluded as would be necessary in the first instance^ might 
be dispensed with afterwards, when some particular mode of 
communication had been once stamped, as it were, with the sig- 



250 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



nature of divinity, by some plainly miraculous accompaniment.-^ 
A particular sort of internal sensation, for instance, or mental 
emotion, which a man might experience, however strikingly dif- 
ferent it might be from his ordinary feelings, he would be very 
rash in regarding as a signal of inspiration, since he could not 
possibly tell that it was not a symptom of disease, or of some 
other natural change ; but if he experienced something of this 
kind in immediate connection with a miraculous phenomenon, to 
which his senses, and those of others, could testify, the recur- 
rence of this peculiar sensation or perception afterwards would 
then be of itself justly regarded by him as a heaven-sent inti- 
mation. For instance, a man may dream, or, if in an excited 
state of mind, may fancy, that he hears a voice addressing him, 
when there is no such thing ; but when Paul, on his road to 
Damascus, was struck to the ground, and blinded by a blaze 
of light, he thus received the assurance of a sensible miracle, — 
then it was that he heard himself addressed in the awful voice 
of the Lord Jesus. He afterwards, as he tells us, received from 
him, at various times, revelations concerning the gospel. Now 
if, as is most probable, this revelation was communicated to 
him by that same voice (even though unaccompanied by the 
supernatural light) — a voice which could not be but strongly 
impressed on his memory — he would be in no more danger 
of delusion than any of us in holding communication with a 
well-known friend. 

Again, when two of the disciples met with their Master 
lately risen from the grave, as they were going to Emmaus, 
their senses were at first preternaturally obscured, so that they 
did not recognize him ; but they seem to have experienced, 
while he was talking with them, a certain remarkable inward 
sensation, not noticed by them at the time, which they de- 
scribed by their " hearts burning within them." Now this may 

1 Hinds's History, etc. Yol. I. p. 187. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



251 



indeed have been no more than a natural and ordinary emo- 
tion, elicited by the interesting character of the discourse they 
were hearing ; it may^ however, have been something peculiar ; 
and the remarkable circumstances of the case (especially their 
eyes being " holden that they should not know him ") render 
this not at all improbable ; especially, since, for the reasons just 
above given, there was a manifest need of their experiencing 
some peculiar and perfectly new sensation. It is certainly not 
impossible ; and therefore, at any rate, we may frame such a 
supposition for illustration's sake. Suppose, then, as is at least 
conceivable, this were a sensation altogether different from any- 
thing they had ever before experienced ; its recurrence, on any 
subsequent occasion, would be justly regarded by them, from 
the miraculous circumstances accompanying its first occur- 
rence — as a token of their Lord's presence, though unseen, 
and notice that they were to regard as a communication from 
the Spirit the ideas conveyed to their minds through this 
vehicle. 

Whether in this particular instance the fact were, or were 
not, such as I have supposed, makes no difference to the present 
argument ; the object being only to illustrate my meaning.^ It 
is worth observing, however, that our Lord must have had some 
design in thus presenting himself to his disciples invisible, — 
invisible that is, as their master, Jesus ; — and his design, or 
at least part of it, may have have been, and was likely to have 
been, to teach them the meaning of a certain peculiar inter- 
nal impression denoting his presence in the Spirit. If so, the 
sensation, and its peculiarity, their own consciousness would 
testify ; its meaning would be explained to them by their Lord's 
afterwards opening their eyes, so that they knew who it was 
that had been with them. 

But whenever (as has often been the case, with those of an 

1 See Elements of Khetoric. Part I. chap. iii. § 3. 



252 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



enthusiastic temperament, in later times) we find a person 
strongly suspecting that he has received a revelation, or fully 
convinced of it, from feeling, as they sometimes express it, a 
certain thought forcibly borne in upon his mind, we may be 
quite sure that he is deluding himself. God would never 
leave any doubt, or at least any reasonable ground for doubt, 
on the mind of any one to whom he might think fit to impart 
a revelation ; he doubtless never did, nor ever will, communi- 
cate any one of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, without 
attesting, to the person or persons concerned, its reality, by the 
stamp of some sensible miracle. 

The Apostle Paul, accordingly, we find enabled to distin- 
guish, and careful to distinguish, the fullest convictions of his 
own understanding from divine revelations. During his last 
journey to Jerusalem that is recorded in the Acts, he was 
strongly impressed with the expectation that he should there 
close his career by a violent death. He took leave of the 
elders of Ephesus with an assurance of his complete conviction 
that they should see his face no more. But he knew that this 
his conjecture (which, all things considered, was a very prob- 
able one, though the event, we have every reason to believe, 
did not agree with it) was merely a conjecture, and not a rev- 
elation. He had received a divine admonition to take this 
journey, and also a warning of approaching persecutions ; but 
the ultimate event was as yet hidden from him : " Behold, I go 
bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that 
shall befall me there ; save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in 
every city^ that bonds and afflictions abide me " (Acts xx. 23). 

An admirable instance of the apostle's care may be seen in 
1 Cor. vii. Any such directions as he might have been sup- 
posed to deliver, on divine authority, on points whereon he had 

1 That is, "in every city I meet with persons prophetically inspired to declare 
this." 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPHIIT. 253 



received " no commandment from the Lord," he is careful 
(though he could not but wish his advice to be followed) to 
point out as merely the suggestions of his own judgment. In 
points unconnected with religion, such as the directions he 
gives about bringing his cloak and his books from Troas, as it 
would be absurd to suppose any inspiration, so there was no 
need that he should disavow it. 

And this applies to such purely historical passages in the 
sacred writers as involve no religious doctrine or precept. It 
is childish, therefore, to allege errors, real or imaginary, of this 
nature, as reasons for doubting either the truth of Christianity, 
or the inspiration of our sacred writers. If indeed they can be 
proved to have written like men, so ill-acquainted with the 
time, places, and occurrences they speak of as to show that 
they could not really have been what they profess^ this is an 
objection of a different kind ; and on this question we may 
safely join issue. But when we are told of a blind man healed 
by Jesus, according to one evangelist (Mark x. 46), as he was 
going 0/ Jericho, and according to another (Luke xviii. 35), 
as he was coming into Jericho, it seems obvious that one of 
the two was mistaken as to this circumstance, — a circumstance 
so utterly insignificant that it would be extravagant to expect 
that the Holy Spirit should interfere to correct the mistake. 
And any one who should, on such a ground, deny the occur- 
rence of the miracle, or the general fidehty of the writers, 
would be acting on a principle which, if adhered to in ordinary 
life, would be regarded as a symptom of utter mental imbecility. 

There are other points, again, in which we could have no 
ground for conjecturing, from the nature of the case, whether 
supernatural guidance took place or not ; as, for example, when 
the Apostle Paul changed his first design of going into Bithy- 
nia, and proceeded to Troas, there is no reason why this 
alteration of plan might have been regarded as the result of 
22 



254 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



his own natural judgment, but that we are expressly told that 
" the Spirit suffered them not " to enter Bithynia (Acts xvi. 
6, 7). In this case, therefore, either there was a supernatural 
interference, or the writer is guilty of a direct falsehood. 
This is a distinction most important to be remembered, as it 
has been overlooked by eminent writers. Many of the enact- 
ments of the Mosaic law, again, are, in themselves, such as we 
might conceive to have been framed by the natural wisdom of 
Moses ; and his detaining the Israelites forty years in the wil- 
derness is not a measure on which we could pronounce, from 
internal evidence, that it could not have been the result of his 
own judgment. But when we find him distinctly declaring 
that he had received express commands from the Lord on these 
points, no alternative remains but either to admit that these 
were divine appointments, or to impute to the author a delib- 
erate imposture. 

Inspirations, however, and other miraculous gifts, we have, 
as has been already observed, no reason to expect in these 
days. Not, however, that we are authorized to assert confi- 
dently that nothing of the kind ever will recur ; but thus far 
we may be confident, that if it does, it will be accompanied by 
sufficient evidence to distinguish clearly a miraculous interpo- 
sition from imposture or delusion. 

And it is important to observe, that one who rashly gives 
heed to such impostures or delusions, is so far from being 
chargeable with erring though excess of faith^ that he has in 
reality forfeited all claim to the praise of faith as a Christian 
virtue ; since he plainly shows that even what is true in his 
belief is received by him not because it is true^ but because it 
agrees with some fancies or prejudices of his own ; and that 
he is right, where he is right, only by chance. Having viola- 
ted the spirit of the first commandment, by regarding what is 
human with the veneration due to that only which is divine, his 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



255 



worship, even of the true God, becomes an abomination. He 
has "set up idols in his heart" (see Ezek. xiv.), and the Lord, 
the jealous God, will " set his face against that man." 

§ VII. The signs, then, by which the extraordinary gifts 
of the Spirit were announced, constitute (as well 

Equality, in the 

as those gifts themselves) a point of difference most important 

, point, between the 

between the early Christians and their success- primitive and the 

. present church. 

ors. There is a resemblance, and, as we have 
every reason to conclude, an equality, between the condition 
of the infant church and our own, in respect of that far more 
important point, — the ordinary grace of the Holy Spirit operat- 
ing in the sanctifi cation of the heart. What, then, is the sign 
of this gift ? — the token by which we may be assured of 
" God's working in us both to will and to do of his good pleas- 
ure ? " This operation of the Spirit, there is every reason to 
believe, not only is, but always was, imperceptible , and undis- 
tinguishable, except by its fruits, from the ordinary workings 
of the human mind. For if it was suggested to the mind of 
one of the first Christians that he ought to do this or that, and 
suggested in such a manner (which sometimes was the case) as 
to afford him a satisfactory assurance of an immediate com- 
mand from the Holy Ghost, this would clearly be a case of 
revelation^ and, consequently, would belong to the other class 
of spiritual gifts — not to that which we are now considering. 
But we may be sure that they were not, even the most highly- 
gifted of them, thus guided by immediate revelation in all the 
actions of their lives ; but were left to work out their " own 
salvation with fear and trembling ; " though still encouraged to 
do this by the assurance that " God wrought in them." They 
were accordingly not uniformly infallible ; for we find a dissen- 
sion arising between Paul and Barnabas : nor was this settled 
by any miraculous interposition, or authoritative declaration 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



of the Spirit, to either of them. And again, we find Paul 
withstanding and censuring Peter ; but at the same time use- 
ing arguments to convince him of his error : not charging him 
with having wilfully rebelled against any express immediate 
revelation respecting the particular act in question. 

In fact, the early Christians could hardly have been moral 
agents if they had not been left watchfully to regulate their 
own conduct according to the best of their judgment, but had 
in every case recognized the immediate dictates of the Holy 
Spirit forbidding or enjoining each action of their lives. And 
yet they were taught that in all their conduct the assistance of 
God's Spirit was requisite, and was promised to them. Our 
Lord himself told them that without him they " could do noth- 
ing ; " and the apostle's encouragement to them to work out 
their own salvation, is, " it is God that worketh in you." 

But how, then, were they, and how are we, to know what 
are these suggestions of the sanctifying Spirit? Our Lord 
himself seems to instruct us that we are to judge by the effects^ 
when he says, " The wind {Trvevfia) bloweth where it listeth, 
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence 
it Cometh, nor whither it goeth ; so is every one that is born 
{tov TTvevfjiaTos) of the Spirit." He here seems to have in view 
the ordinary and universal operations of the Holy Spirit, — 
those which extend to " every one that is born of the Spirit," 
without which " no one can enter into the kingdom of heaven." 
And as we judge of the direction of any wind that blov/s 
(though itself invisible) by its effects, — by the direction in 
w^hich it impels the bodies moved by it, — so we must decide 
whether we are in each instance influenced by God's Holy 
Spirit, or by our own corrupt desires and the spirit of evil, by 
observing the direction in which we are impelled ; whether to 
holiness or to sin, — towards a conformity, or an opposition, to 
the example of our great Master, the word of his inspired 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 257 

servants, and the moral law which is written on our conscience, 
though the characters be so far obscured as not to be traced 
without dihgent study. The apostle, in like manner, when 
exhorting his converts to be " led by the Spirit," and to " walk 
after the Spirit," evidently refers them to a similar test, by 
enumerating the principal of the fruits of the Spirit, and con- 
trasting them with " the works of the flesh " ; which, he says, 
" are manifest." 

From these considerations it will appear how much those 
are in error who imagine that such as have attained a very 
high degree of Christian perfection, and are eminently under 
the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit, will be able dis- 
tinctly to perceive, by a peculiarity of immediate sensation, 
and thus to distinguish, from their own natural thoughts, the 
suggestions of the Holy Ghost. If this his ordinary operation 
— this grace which guides and assists the Christian " to will 
and to do what is well-pleasing to God " — always was, as there 
seems good reason to conclude, insensible, we may be well 
assured that it always will be so. As, on the one hand, even 
the lowest of the extraordinary spiritual gifts alluded to by 
Paul must always have been accompanied with a distinct man- 
ifestation of its superhuman origin, so as to prevent the possi- 
bility of its being mistaken for an exercise of any natural 
power, so, on the other hand, even the very highest degree of 
purifying grace is, and always was, undistinguishable from the 
exercise of the natural powers, except by the holiness which 
is the result. The " carnal mind " and the " spiritual mind " 
are to be known, respectively, by " the works of the flesh" 
and the " fruits of the Spirit." It is, first, by the inclinations 
of our hearts ; secondly, by our deliberations towards the ac- 
compKshment of our wishes ; and thirdly, by the actions which 
are the result of these, that we must know what spirit we are 
22* 



258 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



of ; for it is from God that " all holy desires, all good counsels, 
and all just works do proceed." 

Another error, opposite to the one just considered, is that of 
those who acknowledge, in general terms, the existence and 
the necessity of the ordinary operations of the Spirit, but ex- 
plain them away in each particular case, and thus completely 
nullify the doctrine. They allow that Christians are to expect 
the sanctifying grace of the Holy Ghost ; but each separate 
w^ork in which this divine agency can possibly operate, they 
attribute exclusively and entirely to some other cause. If a 
man resist temptation, they attribute this to his sense of the 
folly and danger and sinfulness of yielding to it ; and thence 
deny that spiritual influence was concerned in the case. If he 
improve in religious knowledge, they attribute this, exclusively, 
to his diligence in learning, and to the advantage of good instruc- 
tion ; and, accordingly, contend that there is no need in such a 
case to suppose spiritual influence concerned. If he does any act, 
or entertains any sentiment, which right reason would approve, 
they regard this as a proof that to right reason alone it is to 
be referred. And in this way they exclude, one by one, every 
possible instance in which the ordinary grace of the Spirit can 
operate ; for anything which could not be traced to any natural 
cause, would clearly be miraculous. But a doctrine which is 
true generally, cannot be false in every particular instance. 
In fact, what we mean by the ordinary operation of the Holy 
Spirit, is his operation through second causes, — ■ his aid to our 
endeavors, his blessing upon the means of grace. We are 
taught to pray for our daily bread as God's gift, though it is 
not like manna showered miraculously from the skies ; and 
every Christian thought, word, and deed is no less "from 
above, and cometh down from the Father of lights," though it 
come not accompanied with fiery tongues and the " sound of 
a mighty wind." Its Christian goodness is the sign of its 
spiritual origin. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



259 



It is perhaps hardlj worth while to notice an objection I 
have heard, that every operation of the Divine Spirit must be 
an interruption of the course of nature, and miraculous ; and 
that consequently I have all along been teaching (though I 
have said the direct reverse) that miracles are to be expected 
in the present day; for if no miracles, it is said, are to be 
looked for, no spiritual influence at all is to be looked for. 
But this, surely, is little better than a verbal cavil. If this 
sense of the word " miracle " is to be adopted, then I do 
teach (as indeed every one must, whether sincerely or not, 
who recites the formularies of our church) that miracles have 
not ceased, and that we are still to hope and pray (as in the 
collect for the fifth Sunday after Easter) that by God's " holy 
inspiration we may think those things that be good, and by his 
merciful guiding may perform the same." But this does not 
imply what is, perhaps the most properly — certainly the 
most usually — termed a "miracle"; namely, a sensible mira- 
cle — an extraordinary and perceptible interruption of the gen- 
eral course of God's providence. I have all along been speak- 
ing of the aid now to be looked for as the " ordinary" operation 
of the Holy Spirit, — as not " sensible," but to be known only 
by its fruits, — and as so far from being an " interruption," 
that it may be considered as rather forming a part of, the 
course of Providence, as far as Christians are concerned — to 
all of whom this spiritual aid is offered. 

At least, if this offer is not made in Scripture, I cannot see 
what can be learned with any certainty, or indeed how any- 
thing at all can be learned, from the writings of the apostles. 
For if we are in this case to reject or to explain away their 
most explicit and repeated declarations on the ground that we 
have no sensible proof of this divine agency, this is to make 
their word go for nothing ; since if they announced to us 
any phenomenon to which our senses did bear testimony, we 



260 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



should believe it on that ground, not from faith in the declara- 
tions of the sacred writers. But he who is content to be taught 
by them, must, I think, accede to our church's doctrine as to 
the reality of a spiritual influence not sensibly or properly 
miraculous, but known only by its effects to be the work of Him 
to whom we must apply to " put into our minds good desires, 
and to bring the same to good effect." 

§ VIII. These " fruits of the Spirit," then, are, and ever 
Sign of the Chris- wcrc, tlic Criterion to Christians of their being 
ri:-,;" " hj the spirit." The sign of their having 
itual guidance. ^ claim to tliis Spiritual guidance — to the ordi- 
nary operation of the Spirit — of their being admitted to a 
share in the offer of this grace — I cannot conceive to be, 
or ever to have been, any other than their baptism into the 
Christian faith. There are some, indeed, who represent bap- 
tism as a sign only of admission into the visible church, and 
not, necessarily, of spiritual regeneration. But the shortest 
and most decisive answer to these persons appears to be, that 
they are making a distinction without a difference. Such as 
the church is described in Scripture, namely, " as the body of 
Christ Jesus," as the "temple of the Holy Ghost which dwell- 
eth in it" — to speak of admittance into this church without an 
admission to the privileges bestowed on it, seems a contradic- 
tion in terms. The promises of Christ are made to the society 
of which he is the head ; and to individuals not as men^ but as 
members of that society. If, in the case of temporal goods, 
any one is admitted a member of any endowed society, he is 
thereby admitted to a share of its revenues : it w^ould be a 
contradiction to disjoin them. The visible church of Christ 
is a society endowed by him with the richest privileges ; but 
then, it rests with each member of that society, as it does with 
the members of a human society, to avail himself aright of 
those privileges, or to neglect or abuse them. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



261 



The case of Christians is in this respect analogous to that of 
God's people of old. (See Essay III.) All the Israelites were 
admitted into covenant with the Lord ; and being made thus his 
" peculiar/' " holy," and " elect " people, were entitled to all the 
privileges and promises of that covenant ; though it rested with 
each individual to make a good or an ill use of these advan- 
tages. The Lord was ready to perform his part, if thej would 
perform theirs ; but if they refused this, still they were not 
allowed to draw back from the engagement, but incurred the 
heavier judgment for their disobedience. The rebellious were 
not permitted, as they desired, " to return into Egypt," but were 
cut off in the wilderness. 

And the infants of the Israelites were admitted into this 
covenant, by the rite of circumcision, at the age of eight days ; 
though they were, of course, then incapable of immediately 
enjoying or understanding their privileges. If this had been 
sufficiently attended to, it might have obviated the difficul- 
ties that have been raised from the consideration that such as 
are baptized in infancy cannot be, at once, nor till they become 
moral agents, actually influenced by the Holy Spirit ; Vvdience 
it has been inferred by some that we ought to defer baptism 
till the party is arrived at years of discretion.^ 

But, after all, there is no more difficulty in the case than in 
one which occurs every day, — that of an infant inheriting an 
estate. He is incapable, at the time, of using or comprehend- 
ing the advantage ; but still it is his. He is not hereafter to 
acquire the title and claim to it ; but he will hereafter become 
capable of understanding his claim, and employing his wealth ; 
and he will become responsible at the same time for the use 
made of it. 

Christians in like manner are called upon, at their peril, to 
make the best use of their advantages, as soon as they become 

1 See the concluding Essay in this volume. 



262 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



capable of understanding them ; and if they fail to do this, they 
are not on that account esteemed as never having been admit- 
ted to those advantages, but, on the contrary, incur, on that 
very ground, the heavier condemnation. " What ! know ye not," 
says the apostle, " that ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost 
which dwelleth in you? And if any man defile [^^ctpet] the 
temple of God, him will God destroy," (^-^epcT). 

It is, then, and ever was, a matter of faith to believe in the 
continual sanctifying presence of God with his church ; and in 
" the communion [or ' fellowship '] of saints," as " the commu- 
nion ^ of the Holy Ghost " — namely, the participation of all 
Christians, as far as they will avail themselves of the offer, in 
the assistance of that Holy Spirit from whom every good and 
every perfect gift proceeds.^ 

In this respect our case and that of the early Christians 
coincide. But there is this point of difference between the two : 
that this was not to them, as to us, the great trial of their faith ; 
because, in the infant church the extraordinary manifestations 
of the Spirit served as a visible token to convince them of his 
actual presence. The same Spirit still resides in the church ; 
but, like the Shechinah concealed within the holy of holies, it 
is screened from our view : we walk wholly " by faith, and not 
by sight." They, however, had counterbalancing trials, — the 
fellowship, in the Spirit, of Jews and Gentiles: to the one 
party the admission of the unclean heathen as fellow-heirs with 
the favored children of Abraham ; to the other, the reception 
of a religion and of a Divine Master from a nation of obscure 
barbarians, despised and detested for superstition; both that 
Master and his ministers being rejected and abhorred even by 
that nation itself; — in short, "Christ crucified, to the Jews 

1 2 Cor. xiii. 14. 

2 Doubtless one of the objects of our Lord in the institution of the eucharist, 
was to remind Christians of this " communion " or fellowship of the Holy Ghost, 
and to impress it habitually on their minds. See Note A, at the end of this Essay. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



263 



a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness/' constituted 
a trial to their faith which we can hardly estimate. The indig- 
nities which Jesus suflfered, who was thence " esteemed stricken, 
smitten of God, and afflicted ; " the contradiction which the new 
religion presented to all the fondly-cherished hopes of the Jew, 
to all that the Gentile most revered in philosophy and was 
most attached to in his religion and in his habits of life ; the 
inveterate malice of persecutors ; the scorn and derision of the 
wisest and greatest ; the censures, entreaties, and lamentations 
of kindred and friends, — all these, and numberless other cir- 
cumstances, revolting to every prejudice, every feeling, every 
habit, of the new convert, formed a trial to his faith of which 
we can form but a faint idea, and under which it was needful 
that his gracious Master should support him, by a constant 
visible display of his presence. 

§ IX. It is the part of Christians of the present day, on the 
one hand, not to distrust the reality of that pres- 

' ^ ^ . Example of the 

ence because it is no longer thus miraculously aposties to be foi- 

, lowed by reversins? 

displayed ; nor, on the other hand, to require or in some points their 
look for such a miraculous manifestation as God p'^^^^'^"'*®- 
has thought fit no longer to bestow. How we should have con- 
ducted ourselves, if placed in the circumstances of the primi- 
tive Christians, can be known only to the Searcher of hearts ; 
how we shall conduct ourselves under the circumstances in which 
we are actually placed, — how we shall withstand our own trials 
and make use of our own advantages, — is the point which 
most concerns us, since of that we shall have to give an account. 

And if we would profit by the example of the most eminent 
of God's servants, we must in some respects reverse their pro- 
cedure, in conformity with the reversed circumstances in which 
we are placed. We must endeavor to learn, and to perform as 
far as we are able, by our natural powers, under the blessing of 



264 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



God's ordinary operations, what the apostles were taught, or 
w^ere empowered to do, hj miraculous gifts ; and the instruc- 
tion they derived from their own, or from each other's imme- 
diate inspiration, we must seek to obtain in the records of that 
inspiration which they have left us. They could in many 
instances infer this or that to be right or true, from its being the 
suggestion of the Spirit, which was attested, to themselves and 
to others, by miracles ; we, on the contrary, can only prove any 
thing to be the suggestion of the Spirit, by its being right and true; 
and the evidence of this must be sought in Scripture, that rec- 
ord of the dictates of the Holy Ghost, which is the appointed 
standard for deciding what does proceed from the Author of all 
good. If our life and faith are agreeable to the gospel, this is the 
ground of confidence that they are right ; and if right, they must 
come from that sanctifying and enlightening and supporting 
grace which alone can raise to life the dead in sin, and purify 
man's corrupt nature, and effectually open his eyes to the truth, 
and " strengthen the feeble knees " to walk in God's paths. 
This spiritual assistance is not, like the other, a proof on which 
to build and support our faith, but is itself a matter of faith, — 
a truth to be believed on God's assurances. And those persons, 
therefore, are in fact wanting in faith (of which they often pre- 
tend, to a preeminent degree), who are not satisfied with this 
assurance, but look for, and pretend to, sensible experiences 
which are to afford a direct and decisive demonstration to their 
minds of their being under spiritual influence. " Except they 
see signs and wonders, they will not believe." 

It is very wonderful, as well as most lamentable, that some 
piously-disposed Christians should so far deceive themselves 
as to claim for themselves, and for others, inspiration in the 
highest sense, and consequent infallibility, without, apparently, 
any consciousness that they are doing so, because they avoid 
the use of those words. For instance, there are some who 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



265 



represent our Lord's admonition to his apostles " not to pre- 
meditate " when called on to vindicate themselves, as applica- 
ble to all sincere Christians in every age. The doctrine may 
be even found in published books in some repute; not with 
any attempt to prove it, but taken for granted as self-evident. 
And yet those who maintain it would be ready, probably, to 
disavow all claim to infallibility, and seem not to perceive 
that they have plainly implied it. For our Lord's injunction 
is plainly accompanied with that promise. " Take no thought," 
says he (Matt. x. 19), "how or what ye shall speak, for it 
shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak ; for it is 
not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaheth in 
youJ^ If this does not imply inspiration in the sense of infal- 
libility, it would be hard to say what can. 

Now claims of this kind, put forth by persons who have no 
sensibly miraculous confirmations of them to offer, do more 
hurt to the cause of Christianity than all that can be urged by 
the most ingenious infidels. Suppose five or six different per- 
sons of various persuasions, — one, suppose, a Quaker, another 
an L'vingite, another a Baptist, another a Methodist, etc., — each 
maintaining that all sincere Christians are enjoined not to 
premeditate what they shall say in defence of their faith, and 
are promised that " it shall be given them " what to say when 
called on ; and suppose each of them to have a confident faith 
in what he believes to be the true gospel, and to have earnestly 
prayed for, and trusted to have received, this promised aid : 
any one in at all a doubtful state of mind will be likely to say, 
" Tliese men cannot all be right, since they teach different doc- 
trines ; but they may be all wrong ; and in this they are all 
agreed, that Christ made a promise to all his followers, which, it 
is manifest, has not been fulfilled." I need not say what con- 
clusion is likely to be the result. And those who are guilty of 
this most culpable rashness, — not to say, profane presump- 
23 



266 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



tion, — must be held responsible for having thus put a stum- 
bling-block in a brother's waj. 

We are to look, then, to the Holy Scriptures, which the Spirit 
Complete certain- Christ iuspircd — not, indeed, according to the 
tude'of'o^l'r^-^ud-- notiou somc have maintained, as constituting the 
ments impossible, ^^ly assistance that the Holy Ghost now bestows 
on the church, but as constituting the ultimate standard by which 
we are to judge how far we have received and are profiting 
by that assistance. It is not in these only that he is 'present; 
but it is by these, as a test, that his presence is, in each case, 
to be known. 

It is, indeed, only through the enlightening and supporting 
grace of the Holy Spirit, that even the Scriptures themselves 
can be consulted with benefit. If we study them with a mind 
biassed by any of those numerous prejudices and infirmities 
which beset our frail nature, we shall receive the heavenly 
light of God's word through a discolored medium ; and its rays 
will thence give an unnatural tint to everything on which they 
are shed. Many different persons, accordingly, have arrived 
at different conclusions {all which, consequently, could not be 
correct), though they have applied, apparently at least, the 
very test that has been recommended. They have compared 
their opinions or practices with the standard of God's word, and, 
finding them agree, have concluded them to be the suggestions 
of the Spirit which dictated that word ; and yet this agreement 
has perhaps been {must have been, in some instances) the 
result of a partial and prejudiced interpretation of Scripture ; 
they may have suffered those opinions and practices to bend 
the rule ^ by which they were to be measured. 

But how, after all, it may be said, is this danger to be com- 
pletely avoided ? Are we not involved in a vicious circle, if 
we are to judge whether we are under the influence of the 

1 Arist, Rhet. B. 1, chap. i. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



267 



Spirit by consulting the Scriptures, and yet cannot, without 
that influence, interpret aright those very Scriptures ? How, 
in short, are we to arrive at a completely satisfactory decision 
as to our own sentiments and conduct ? 

The danger is one against which we never can be completely 
secured in this life, — the decisions we attain can never be wholly 
exempt from all ground for doubt : ^ in other words, we must 
not expect, with our utmost efforts and prayers, to attain per- 
fect infaUihility. If we could, this life would hardly be any 
longer a state of trial. To contend against the difficulty in 
question, — to labor not only with diligence and patience, but 
" with fear and trembling " also ; that is, with anxious and 
humble self-distrust, — is the very task assigned us in this our 
state of preparation. But if, while the Christian puts forth all 
his own powers in this task, he at the same time earnestly and 
importunately prays for heavenly guidance, and relies with 
deep humility on Him who alone can crown those efforts with 
success, he will be continually approaching nearer and nearer 
to " a right judgment in all things," and to a corresponding 
perfection of life. For it is the office of the Holy Spirit to 
lead us into " all righteousness^' as well as into all truth. 

And in referring to and studying the Scriptures, though no 
infallible interpreter is to be found, or hoped for, — no system 
of general directions that will absolutely secure us against mis- 
take, — yet there are two maxims especially (already adverted 
to in these Essays), which, studiously dwelt upon, and perpet- 
ually recalled to our thoughts, will prove a safeguard against 
many and various errors. The one is, to remember that, in 
studying the Scriptures, we are consulting the Spirit of truth ; 
and therefore must, if we would hope for his aid, search hon- 
estly and earnestly /or the truth — not for a confirmation of our 
preconceived notions, or a justification of the system or the 

1 See Essay YI. § x. (First Series). 



268 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



practice to which we may be inclined. This maxim is the 
more frequently transgressed, from men's falsely persuading 
themselves that they have complied with it. The conclusions 
which they arrive at they of course believe to be true ; and 
thence, from their having, as they suppose, found truth, they 
take for granted that it was for truth they were seeking. But 
a desire to have Scripture on our side is one thing, and a sin- 
cere desire to be on the side of Scripture is another ; it is 
one thing to pray that we may learn what is right, and an- 
other thing (though often mistaken for it) to pray that we may 
find OURSELVES in the right. 

And, finally, in combination with this rule we should also 
keep constantly in mind that of seeking in Scripture not only 
for truth, but for practical truth, with a view to the improve- 
ment of our life and heart.^ This is an express condition on 
which spiritual aid in enlightening the understanding is prom- 
ised : " If any man is^ willing to do the will of God, he shall 
know of the doctrine." We must seek, therefore, in the Scrip- 
tures, by the aid of Him w^ho gave them, not for speculative 
knowledge respecting the intrinsic nature of God, or of the 
human soul, but for practical knowledge concerning the reZa- 
tions existing between God and the soul of man, that we may 
be enabled to serve and please him the better ; and that " the 
inspiration of his Holy Spirit may cleanse the thoughts of our 
hearts," and fit us for enjoying the more immediate presence of 
our Master in his triumphant kingdom. 

1 "Pray for what passeth human skill, 
The power God's will to do: 
Read then that thou may'st do his will, 
And thou shalt know it too. " 

— Bishop Hinds^s Foems^ 
2 ^eAet. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



269 



NOTE TO ESSAY IX. 



Note A— Page 262. 

With a view to the mere commemoration of our Lord's sacrifice, 
and expression of our faith in his atonement, the mere breaking of the 
bread, and pouring out of the wine, in the Lord's supper, might have 
been sufficient ; but the bread and wine are, by Christ's appointment, 
eaten and drunk in conformity with this declaration, Except ye 
eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life 
in you " He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, the 
same dwelleth in me, and I in him." What, then, is it of which the 
devout communicants are really partakers, under the outward sym- 
bols of bread and wine ? Surely, of the Spirit of Christ ; for "hereby 
know we that he dwelleth in us, by his Spirit which he hath given 
lis ; " and hence, by Paul's expression, that " we are all made to drink" 
(iTroTi<T^7){xev, 1 Cor. xii. 13) " into one Spirit." 

This obvious interpretation the Romanists, and afterwards the 
Lutherans, were led to overlook, partly at least, I conceive, from the 
habit of keeping too much out of sight the divine unity, and of 
regarding the Son and the Holy Ghost too much as distinct beings ; 
so that io partake of Christ must, they thought, be something different 
from partaking of the Holy Spirit, Hence they inferred that the 
communicants receive the literal, material body and blood of Christ ; 
and they accordingly boast that they alone interpret the Scripture 
declarations not figuratively. There is no need to adduce the well- 
known refutations of this extravasjant doctrine : but there is one 
answer to it, which is usually overlooked, and which goes to over- 
throw the foundation of it ; namely, that if we could actually receive 
into our mouths the very flesh and blood of Christ, this could not, 
of itself be productive of any benefit to the soul. It might, if God 
willed it, be the appointed token and means of our receiving such 
benefit, even as the water of the pool of Siloam was, of restored 
sight ; but it could not itself confer any spiritual advantage, any more 

1 See Hinds's Catechist's Manual, p. 265, to the author of which I am indebted 
for the substance of these remarks. 

23* 



270 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



than water could cure blindness. It must, therefore, after all, be in 
a spiritual and figurative sense that Christ says, " My flesh is meat 
indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." If they v^ere literally eaten 
and drunk, they must still be the sign of something else, represented 
and conveyed by them. So that the violence done to Scripture and 
to reason, for the sake of avoiding a figurative interpretation, does 
not, after all, even accomplish that object. 

The error of transubstantiation the English Church has guarded 
against most carefully, by declaring that the bread and wine remain 
unchanged, — that they are only a sign of Christ's body and blood, 
— and that it is only " after a spiritual manner" that his body and 
blood are received by the faithful. But it would have been better, 
perhaps, to have added to this, for the benefit of the unlearned, a 
statement that the bread and wine not only are merely a sign^ but 
are a sign of a sign : that is, that they represent our Lord's flesh and 
blood, and that his flesh and blood, again, are a sign of something else. 
This is indeed implied, when it is said that Christ's body and blood 
are " spiritually received," and that it strengthens and refreshes the 
soul ; " for it is manifest that literal^ material flesh and blood cannot 
be spiritually received, or refresh the souL But for the sake of avoid- 
ing those vague and confused ideas which are apt to lead, ultimately, 
on the one hand, to something nearly the same as the notion of tran- 
substantiation, or, on the other hand, to the regarding of the eucharist 
as a mere memorial, it might have been better to state distinctly 
what it is that the faithful communicants do really partake of. 

To eat and drink the symbols^ of the Lord's flesh and blood, rep- 
resents our feasting on the sacrifice, — our being made sharers in 
the benefits procured by his death, even the " gifts which he received 
for men." That which strengthens and refreshes the soul of Chris- 
tians, as bread and wine do man's body, is " the Spirit of Christ," 
whereby " he dwelleth in us, and we in him ; " for " it is the Spirit 
that quickeneth (^^ottolovv) ; the flesh profiteth nothing " (John vi. 
63). And as it is the soul or spirit of a man that animates (quick- 
eneth) his body, which would otherwise be lifeless, so Christians, who 
are themselves the figurative body of Christ, are quickened — receive 
life and vigor, " strength and refreshment " — from the Spirit which 
dwelleth in them. They " are the temple of the Holy Ghost " : the 

1 " Mysteries " is used in the sense of " symbols " in the second prayer at the 
close of our communion service. 



ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPmiT. 



271 



last Adam was made a quickening Spirit." And since it is as mem- 
bers of the holy community that individual Christians obtain this gift, 
of this circumstance they are reminded by their partaking together 
of the Lord's Supper, — " the communion iKOLvoopla'] of the blood of 
Christ" (1 Cor. x. 16). "We have all been in one Spirit baptized 
into one body" (that is, all admitted by baptism — being born of 
■water and of the Spirit — into the church, which is Christ's body), 
" and have all been made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Cor. xii. 13). 



ESSAY X 



ON SELF-DENIAL. 



§ L Much of what is said in the writings of the Apostle 
Mistakes and dif- P^ul and in other parts of Scripture concerning 
"rSngfr^om Christian s elf-denial/' and, again, concerning 
prejuS perus^^ " mortification," and much also that we read 
of Paul, and other various placcs rclativo to " fastinff," have un- 

of the sacred writ- ^ ^ 

ers. doubtedly presented to some minds a considerable 

dijfficulty ; not merely speculative difficulty, but practical, and 
leading to great diversity of views and of conduct, and some- 
times to distressing doubt and perplexity in reference to Chris- 
tian duty. 

I cannot but attribute great part of the discrepancy and per- 
plexing uncertainty that has arisen, on this and also on several 
other points, to the habit cherished by some persons of reading 
the Scriptures assiduously, indeed, but without any attentive 
reflection and studious endeavor to ascertain the real sense of 
what they read ; concluding that whatever impression is found 
to be left on the mind after a bare perusal of the words, must 
be what the sacred writers designed. They use, in short, little 
or none of that care which is employed on any other subject in 
which we are much interested, — to read through each treatise 
consecutively as a whole, to compare one passage with others 
that may throw light on it, and to consider what was the gen- 



ON SELF-DENIAL. 



273 



eral drift of the author, and what were the occasions and the 
persons he had in view. 

In fact, the real students of Scripture, properly so called, are, 
I fear, fewer than is commonly supposed. The theological 
student is often a student chiefly of some human system of 
divinity, fortified by references to Scripture introduced from 
time to time as there is occasion. He proceeds, often uncon- 
sciously, by setting himself to ascertain, not what is the inform- 
ation or instruction to be derived from a certain narrative or 
discourse of one of the sacred writers, but what aid can be 
derived from them towards estabhshing or refuting this or 
that point of dogmatic theology. Such a mode of study surely 
ought at least not to be exclusively pursued. At any rate, it 
cannot properly be called a study of Scripture, 

There is, in fact, a danger of its proving a great hinder ance 
to the profitable study of the Scripture. For so strong an asso- 
ciation is apt to be established in the mind between certain 
expressions and the technical sense to which they have been 
confined in some theological system, that when the student 
meets with them in Scripture he at once understands them in 
that sense, in passages where perhaps an unbiassed examina- 
tion of the context would plainly show that such was not the 
author's meaning. And such a student one may often find ex- 
pressing the most unfeigned wonder at the blindness of those 
who cannot find in Scripture such and such doctrines which 
appear to him to be as clearly set forth there as words can 
express ; which perhaps they are, on the (often gratuitous) 
supposition that those words are everywhere to be understood 
exactly in the sense which he has previously derived from 
some human system, — a system through which, as through a 
discolored medium, he views Scripture. But this is not to take 
Scripture for one's guide, but rather to make one's self a guide 
to Scripture. 



274 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



Others, again, there are, who are habitual readers of the 
Bible, and perhaps of little else ; but who yet cannot properly 
be said to study anything at all on the subject of religion, be- 
cause, as was observed just above, they do not even attempt to 
exercise their mind on the subject, but trust to be sufficiently 
enlightened and guided by the mere act of perusal, while their 
minds remain in a passive state. And some, I believe, pro- 
ceed thus on principle — considering that they are the better 
recipients of revealed truth, the less they exercise their own 
reason. 

But this is to proceed on a totally mistaken view of the real 
province of reason. It would indeed be a great error to at- 
tempt substituting for revelation, conjectures framed in our own 
mind, or to speculate on matters concerning which we have an 
imperfect knowledge imparted to us by revelation, and could 
have had, without it, none at all. But this would be, not to use 
but to abuse, our rational faculties. By the use of our senses, 
which are as much the gift of the Creator as anything else we 
enjoy, and by employing our reason on the objects around us, 
we can obtain a certain amount of valuable knowledge. And 
beyond this, there are certain other points of knowledge unat- 
tainable by these faculties, and which God has thought fit to 
impart to us by his inspired messengers. But both the vol- 
umes — that of nature and that of revelation — which he has 
thought good to lay before us, are to be carefully studied. On 
both of them we must diligently employ the faculties with which 
He, the author of both, has endued us, if we would derive the 
full benefits of His gifts. 

The telescope, we know, brings within the sphere of our vis- 
ion much that would be undiscernible by the naked eye ; but 
we must not the less employ our eyes in making use of it ; and 
we must watch and calculate the motions, and reason on the 
appearances of the heavenly bodies which are visible only 



ON SELF-DENIAL. 275 

through the telescope, with the same care we employ in respect 
of those seen by the naked eye. 

And an analogous procedure is requisite if we would derive 
the intended benefit from the pages of inspiration ; which were 
designed not to save us the trouble of inquiring and reflecting, 
but to enable us, on some points, to inquire and reflect to bet- 
ter purpose, — not to supersede the use of our reason, but to 
supply its deficiencies.^ 

On those points above alluded to, I cannot but think that a 
moderate degree of thoughtful study of Scripture — not taken 
at random, in detached passages, as if we w^ere consulting the 
" Sortes Biblicse," but examined in the same way in which 
we endeavor to get at the true sense of any other author, on a 
subject which we are really anxious to understand — will en- 
able us, through divine help, to escape those perplexities an^ 
errors into which many have fallen. 



Warning of Jesus 
respecting the self- 
denial, sufferings, 
and sacrifices re- 
quired of his follow- 
ers, contrasted with 
•what would have 
been the procedure 
of any, especially 
a Jewish, imposter 
or enthusiast. 



§ II. To begin, then, with our Lord's own declaration re 
specting the self-denial required of his followers, 
we find that, at a time when great multitudes were 
crowding after him, in eager expectation of the 
speedy commencement of the kingdom of heaven, 
" having called the people unto him, with his disci- 
ples also, he said unto them. Whosoever wilP 
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up 
his cross, and follow me ; for whosoever will ^ 
save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for 
my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it." 

The warning He here gives of the trials and sufferings to be 

1 1 have treated more fully on this point in Essay III. § V. (Fourth Series). 

2 The original has i^eAet: " whosoever is desirous,''^ etc. It is remarkable that 
the same words which in Mark are rendered " whosoever shall lose," are ren- 
dered, in the corresponding passage of Matthew, " whosoever will lose." The 
former is evidently the right rendering of %s Uv airoXiffri, 



276 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



encountered and the sacrifices to be made by those who would 
be truly His disciples, is of a piece with others which He gave 
from time to time, both to the " people" — the multitudes who 
were as yet doubting hearers of His discourses, — and to those 
who had joined the number of His followers. 

All parties were agreed in expecting that if He were indeed 
the Christ, he would shortly enter on a triumphant temporal 
kingdom, and would reign with his adherents in earthly splen- 
dor and prosperity, exempt from all dangers and afflictions. 
Such was, and is to this day, the expectation of the Jews re- 
specting the Messiah's kingdom. This was their interpretation 
of the prophecies concerning that kingdom.^ And their expec- 
tation was strengthened by the ancient history of their nation ; 
the Lord having governed them of old by a system of tempo- 
ral rewards and punishments ; promising, and giving, victory, 
wealth, and worldly peace to those who serve him faithfully ; 
which promises, and many signal fulfilments of them, we find 
recorded in the Old Testament. 

It is impossible, therefore, to doubt (and this is a circumstance 
very important to be remarked) that an}'- impostor^ seeking to 
raise a party among the Jews by professing to be the long- 
looked-for Messiah, would have been sure to fall in with their 
expectations, by promising to his followers triumph over all 
enemies, and every kind of worldly prosperity : as was in fact 
what was actually held forth by the many false christs of whom 
Jesus prophesied, and who arose not long after. 

And an enthusiast would hardly have failed to take the 
same course. He would have been sure to fancy himself just 
such a triumphant Messiah as the imagination of all the Jewish 

1 And there are some who teach that these prophecies are to be fulfilled in that 
sense; and that, after all, the Jews were right in so understanding them, and in 
this were only mistaken as to the time. See Lectures on a Future State, Lect. 
VII. 



ON SELF-DENIAL. 



277 



people had been so long and so fondly imagining ; and would 
accordingly have had his own day-dreams filled with those vis- 
ions of temporal success and splendor which had been so long 
and intimately associated with the idea of the Messiah's king- 
dom. 

And, indeed, universally, any impostor or enthusiast will be 
likely to promise his followers temporal success as a sign of 
divine favor ; as was done by Mahomet, who was probably a 
mixture of the two characters. But much more would this 
have been the case with a Jewish impostor or enthusiast, con- 
sidering how deeply rooted, in the Jews, was the notion that 
victory and worldly prosperity was a mark of divine favor, and 
would most especially distinguish the promised Christ. 

Jesus, on the contrary, labored to repress all such expecta- 
tions ; and held forth a prospect of persecutions and hardships 
such as would, instead of attracting, tend to repel the greater 
part of his countrymen ; not only through the reluctance men 
feel to encounter dangers and sufferings, but, also, besides this, 
through the " offence " (as it is called in the New Testament) 
— the shock to their prejudices — thus produced, and the 
consequent difficulty they had in believing that that could he 
the true kingdom of God, which was so opposite to their ex- 
pectations.^ " There went great multitudes with him," says 
Luke,^ " and he turned and said unto them. If any man come 
to me, and hate not his father and mother and wife, etc., yea, 
and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple ; and whosoever 
doth not bear his cross and come after me, cannot be my 
disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth 

1 " Thus did the Saviour come ' unto his own, and his own received him not; ' 
thus was ' he despised and rejected of men ; ' and thus were the prophecies ful- 
filled that not only ' the Christ should swjfer,' but that the very circumstance 
of his being a sufferer should be interpreted as a proof of divine disfavor : ' We 
did esteem him smitten, stricken of God, and afflicted; and we hid, as it were, 
our faces from him. ' " — Essays, p. 293 (Fourth Series). 
2 Chap. xiv. 25. 

24 



278 



WIIATELY^S ESSAYS. 



not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient 
to finish it ? lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and 
is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 
saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. 
.... So, likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not 
all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." 

We find, then, Jesus proceeding not only in a different, but 
in a totally opposite way to that which might have been looked 
for from an impostor or an enthusiast, — discouraging the expec- 
tations which either of those characters would have cherished, 
and holding out such prospects to his followers as would be likely, 
humanly speaking, to dishearten them, and which, in fact, must 
have overthrown the religion altogether, if it had not been sup- 
ported by supernatural power. And thus a proof is afforded to 
any plain Christian, possessing common sense and an acquaint- 
ance with the Bible, that Jesus must have come from God. 

§ III. Another important point to be remarked in reference 
to this part of our Lord's teachinar, is, that the 

No self-inflicted ^ ^ ^ ^ , 

or gratuitous suf- " self-dcnial " he is speaking of consists not in 
the°*di7dpies^ o^f self-infiicted sufferings, undergone as acceptable 
^^"^* in God's sight, — in sacrifices and privations 

voluntarily endured without any further object, but merely for 
their own sake, as a part of Christian virtue ; or of dangers 
or death encountered when they might be avoided without any 
desertion of the Christian cause. He is speaking of the. hard- 
ships and dangers his disciples would have to encounter in 
preaching the gospel^ — of the cruelties that would be infiicted 
on them by his enemies for adhering to him ("if they have 
persecuted me, they will also persecute you"), — of the en- 
mity they would incur " for his name's sake." But he mani- 
festly says nothing — whatever some Christians may have con- 
jectured as to his meaning — of their inflicting on themselves 



ON SELF-DElSriAL. 



279 



any kind of pain, as being, for its own sake, and simply as 
pain, a laudable service. 

Criminals on whom was inflicted the horribly barbarous 
sentence of crucifixion, were compelled to carry their own 
" cross " to the place of execution ; and again, for minor offences, 
the Romans often sentenced a criminal simply to carry a cross.^ 
And from this it is that Jesus drawls his metaphor, Let him 
take up his cross and follow me ; " that is, let him be prepared 
to endure patiently whatever sufferings may be laid on him in 
his Christian course. The precept is not, it should be observed, 
" Let him bear a cross " or " the cross,'' but his cross ; that 
is, that which is allotted to him. So, also, in the parables em- 
ployed of a man going to build and of a king about to make 
war, and who do not fail, if they are prudent, to count the cost 
beforehand, we may observe that the cost to be computed is the 
unavoidable expense of the undertaking. They do not regard the 
expenditure as a thing desirable in itself, and to be sought on its 
own account, or incurred unnecessarily ; but they consider how 
much it is requisite to sacrifice in order to accomplish the object. 

And the very strength of some of our Lord's expressions 
— the hyperbolical and paradoxical form which they often 
assume — serves, and was doubtless designed to serve, the 
purpose (in this as in many other cases)^ of guarding against 
mistaking his meaning. If he had bid us merely "hate" 
riches and ease and comfort, he might have been understood 
to mean that Christians v^ould be the more acceptable to him 
for renouncing private property,* and exposing their bodies to 
the sufferings of cold and hunger, and scourging themselves 
with knotted cords, according to the " discipline " (as it is called) 

1 "Whence " furcifer," " cross-bearer," was a common term of reproach among 
the Romans, applied to the vilest characters. 

2 Tbv aravphp avrov. 

3 See above. Essay VIII. 

4 See Note at the end of Sermon 11. on " Leaving all to follow Jesus." 



280 



WHATELTS ESSAYS. 



of some fanatics, or, like the Hindoos at this day, plunging 
into their flesh iron hooks, by which they are suspended and 
violently swung round. But when he says that a man must 
" hate his father and mother," and all those to whom duty as 
well as affection most bind him, " yea, and his own life also," 
we plainly see — since he evidently could not have been 
enjoining both unnatural cruelty and suicide — that he must 
have been inculcating the duty of being ready to sacrifice both 
our strongest attachments and even life itself, when called on 
to do so in Ms cause ; — when regard for friends, or love of 
life, shall stand in the way of our devotedness to him — when, 
as it would often happen in the times of persecution, a man 
was obliged to make choice between the two, and renounce 
either the gospel or the most valued goods of this life, and life 
itself In short, the " self-denial " he required, was, a readiness 
to give up without hesitation anything that might "offend," 
as the Scripture phrase is, — anything that might prove a 
hinderence " a stumbling-block " in the path of Christian duty. 
And this he expresses in another place by saying, " If thine 
eye offend thee, pluck it out ; .... if thy right hand offend 
thee, cut it off and cast it from thee." He does not tell us that 
it is, simply and absolutely, a good thing to part with the eye 
or the hand — that is, to sacrifice what we are strongly at- 
tached to ' — merely because the sacrifice is painful, but when 
some highly-prized object is an impediment (" stumbling- 
block ") in our Christian course ; in short, when Christian 
duty requires the sacrifice. 

§ IV. Such appears to have been, according to the most 
Tendency of obvious scuse of his words, our Lord's teaching 



been expected from an impostor or an enthusiast. The most 



mankind to attach 
merit to ascetic self- 
torture. 



of self-denial. Let us compare this again, and 
rather more particularly, with what might have 



ON SELF-DENIAL. 



281 



obvious course for such a person to have taken, especially a 
Jew addressing Jews, would have been (as was remarked 
above) to promise his followers earthly triumph and prosperity ; 
and if he perceived that it was necessary to prepare them to 
encounter opposition, he would assure them, at least, that the 
struggle would end, if they did but show courage in temporal 
victory, glory, wealth, and enjoyment. These things are nat- 
urally the objects of human desire ; and a promulgator of any 
religious system that should require little or no self-denial from 
his followers, and which should p];omise them, along with the 
consolations of piety, the free indulgence and gratification of 
their natural desires, — such a man would, with a moderate 
share of plausible eloquence, be likely to find willing hearers. 

But it is very important to remark that there is in mankind 
another, and a much more strange kind of tendency, — a craving 
for self-torture, — for self-denial in the sense of sacrificing what 
is agreeable, and submitting to self-inflicted suffering, simply 
because it is painful, and on the supposition that pain, and espe- 
cially a gratuitous endurance of it, is, in itself, acceptable to God. 

To enter fully into the investigation of the causes of this dis- 
position in mankind, would lead into too wide a field of discus- 
sion. But there can be no doubt that it arises in great measure 
from men's observing that there are so many cases in which 
that which every one perceives to be right conduct, necessarily 
involves some sacrifice of present gratification. Painful toil 
is often requisite for a man to perform the obvious duty of 
honestly providing for his family ; wounds and death must be 
encountered in fighting for one's country ; riches must on many 
occasions be sacrificed by one who would preserve his integ- 
rity ; and the like in many other cases. Now, admiration being 
excited by the self-denying fortitude which, in such cases, a 
virtuous man displays, men are thus led to associate in their 

minds the ideas of virtue and of pain, till their admiration 
24* 



282 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



is at length transferred to self-denial in itself. Perceiving 
that Providence has appointed that in so many cases men must, 
in order to perform their duty, encounter pain without shrinking, 
they are at length led to conclude that the voluntary endurance 
of pain, without any ulterior object, must be acceptable to God. 

I do not say that this is the sole cause, but it is evidently 
one cause, of the notion I am alluding to. Be this, however, 
as it may, of the fact there can be no doubt. We find traces 
of this feeling in almost every age and country. We find the 
ancient Canaanites sacrificing their children to Moloch; and 
the priests of Baal " cutting themselves after their manner 
with knives and lancets " at his altar. We find the modern 
Pagans of India lacerating their fiesh, making vows not to lie 
down for a certain number of years, but to sleep standing 
against a tree, or to submit to various other fantastic self-tortures, 
— drowning themselves in the Ganges, burning themselves 
alive, and practising other modes of self-immolation. Among 
the Mahometans, again, as well as the Pagans, we find the reli- 
gious devotees called fakeers clothing themselves in filthy rags, 
and living as mendicants. And we find the Mahometan fast 
of Ramadan kept for a whole month, with such rigor that from 
sunrise to sunset they abstain not only from all food, but even 
from water, in a climate of parching heat. 

And very early in the Christian world we find men renowned 
for their holiness in proportion to their self-inflicted sufierings. 
We read of some who excited admiration by restricting them- 
selves not only to bread, but to bread mixed with ashes, on 
purpose so render it distasteful ; we find them clothing them- 
selves wdth sackcloth purposely kept in a state of disgusting 
filth ; standing day and night on the top of a pillar ; lying on 
beds of flints, and taking precautions to have their natural rest 
even there interrupted ; excluding the light of day, and impris- 
oning themselves in dungeons ; besides scourgings and a great 



ON SELF-DENIAL. 



283 



variety of other modes of self-torture, only to be exceeded by 
those of the Hindoo idolaters.^ 

There can be no doubt, then, I say, of the fact that there is 
a tendency in human nature to regard pain, privation — in short, 
" mortification " in the popular sense of the word (which, 
as I shall hereafter have occasion to point out, is totally 
different from the Scripture sense) — especially when volun- 
tary, and gratuitoulsy self-inflicted, as acceptable to God. 
The notion evidently is not derived either from Christianity as 
such, or from Mahometanism, or from Paganism, or from any 
particular form of Paganism, since it is found in these various 
religions, but from some tendency in human nature itself. 

It appears, then, that not only an active and eloquent reli- 
gious teacher who should proclaim a religion of self-indulgence 
and worldliness would be likely to gain converts, but, also, any 
superstitious fanatic or crafty impostor who should exhibit in 
himself, and recommend to others, excessive austerity and self- 
torture, would be likely to excite admiration of his supposed 
holiness, and faith in his pretensions. 

And, accordingly, since these two (seemingly most opposite) 
systems — that of complete self-indulgence and that of ascetic 
self-mortification — have each something to recommend it to the 
human mind, one might expect that any one teaching a reli- 
gion either invented or modified by man, would adopt one or 
the other of these two courses. 



§ Y. In fact, we find that in most cases the 
hined. Certain persons, or certain seasons, we 
find set aside, as it were, for the practice of aus- 
terities ; and a kind of compensation is made 
by allowing the utmost laxity of morals in other 
persons, or at other times. Thus the rigid fast 
of Mahometans, above alluded to, during one 
1 See Note A, at the end of this Essay, 



two are com- 



False teachers 
disposed to combine 
ascetic mortifica- 
tioBS -with general 
licentiousness; the 
teaching of Jesus 
keeping clear of 
both. 



284 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



montli, is a sort of compensation for general sensuality ; and 
the austerities habitually practised, or supposed to be practised, 
by their fakeers, obtain for them the high veneration of the 
multitude, but are not at all regarded as an example for the 
multitude to follow.^ The supposed eminent holiness of these, 
and of other similar ascetics in other religions, induces the 
generality of the people, not to emulate their practice, but 
to seek their prayers and blessings. And by none are such 
ascetics usually more venerated than by those whose own lives 
are spent in unbridled licentiousness. Such a system of religion, 
consequently, is calculated to suit persons of the most various 
and even opposite dispositions. And it will generally be found 
that the prevalence in any religion of general laxity of morals, 
and of severe austerities, will nearly keep pace with each other. 
The greater the merit attached to the self-inflicted sufferings 
of certain devotees, the greater will be the indulgence for a 
prevailing, habitual disregard of the general rules of morality. 
And again, the stricter the requisition of severe fasts and other 
mortifications, at certain seasons, according to certain prescribed 
regulations, the less is the general self-restraint at other times. 

Those ancient heathen above mentioned who lacerated their 
flesh and burned their children in honor of their gods, were 
not only most licentious in their lives, but had special religious 
festivals which were regularly celebrated by intemperance and 
profligacy. And the modern Hindoos, according to the best 
accounts, seem to be as remarkable for the absence of moral 
restraint from their religion, as for the excessive extravagance 
and variety of its mortifications — the self-inflicted penances 
above alluded to. The same gods whom they believe to be 
propitiated by severe fasts, and mangling of the flesh, and self- 
sacrifice — these same imaginary gods not only are not repre- 
sented as requiring of their votaries habitual temperance and 

1 See Essay on Vicarious Religion (Third Series). 



ojnT self-denial. 



285 



purity and honesty and veracity, but are even, some of them, 
the acknowledged patrons of robbers and murderers by pro- 
fession ; and the very worship of many of them is celebrated 
in festivals of the grossest licentiousness.^ 

And the further any one extends his inquiries into the his- 
tory of all nations, ancient and modern, the more reason he 
will see to be convinced that any religion either wholly of 
man's devising, or mixed and modified and corrupted with hu- 
man inventions, is likely to be characterized by those features I 
have described : it will generally be found to place religious 
excellence more in self-inflicted sufferings than in moral duty, 
— to prize more that mortification which consists in gratuitous 
endurance of pain and privation, without any further object, 
than that " mortification " which our Scriptures speak of, — the 
habitual repression of evil passions. 

The word " mortify originally signifies — as well as the 
two Greek words of which it is a translation — to " put to 
death." And it is invariably used by the sacred writers (doubt- 
less in allusion to the death of Christ for his people, whom he 
came to " save from their sins ") in the sense of suppressing 
and subduing sinful propensities, and bringing the body into 
subjection to the Spirit. Never once do they employ it in 
reference simply to pain or privation as such. In our ordinary 
language, on the contrary, the word is commonly applied to 
any kind of suffering, simply as suffering ; in which sense 
either scanty or unpleasant food, or lying on a bed of stones, 
scourging, wearing of hair cloth, or any other infliction of 
pain, would be called " mortification." 

It would be vain to attempt changing the established language 
of any country ; but much confusion of thought and error are 
likely to arise from our taking a word in its popular sense, in 
passages of Scripture in which it has invariably a different 

1 See Ward, on tlie Religion of the Hindoos. 



286 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



sense. For instance, the Apostle Paul tells us (Col. iii. 5), 
'^Mortify [veAcpoicra e] your members which are on the earth, — 
fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence 
and covetousness," etc. ; and again, If ye live after the flesh " 
(that is, a life of sensuality), " ye shall die ; but if ye through 
the Spirit do mortify {SavarovTe) the deeds of the body, ye 
shall live." And in the same spirit he says (Rom. vi. 6), 
" Knowing this, that our old man is crucijied with Christ, that 
the body of sin might be destroy ed,^^ etc. ; and again (Gal. v. 
24), " They that are Christ's have crucijied the flesh, with the 
affections and lusts." 

Now if from Scripture, whose sense seems in this point so 
very plain men infer that " mortification " is well-pleasing in 
God s sight, and then understand " mortification " in the popu- 
lar sense as the simple infliction of suffering and privation of 
every kind — this, surely, must be from the prevalence of that 
tendency above alluded to, — the tendency to seek divine favor 
by self-torture as something in itself acceptable to the Deity 

We have seen, then, what was our Lord's teaching, and, again, 
what would have been likely to be the teaching of a supersti- 
tious enthusiast, or of a designing impostor. Any one not sent 
from God would have been likely to accommodate himself to 
the dispositions of man, either by allowing to his zealous dis- 
ciples a relaxation of moral ohUgationSj or by recommending 
self-inflicted sufferings as a laudable service of God ; or, most 
likely, by both together. Jesus, on the contrary, does neither. 
He allows of no exemptioiis from moral duty, — no shrinking 
from dangers and sufferings to be encountered in his cause ^ — 
no refusal to bear the cross that may be allotted to each ; and 
yet never enjoins or encourages any self-inflicted pain, or need- 
less exposure to danger. His religion, therefore, as taught by 
himself, differs in a most important point from any that ever 

1 See Note A, at the end of this Essay. 



ON SELF-DEJTIAL. 



287 



was devised, either wholly on or in part, by men. And this is 
one of the proofs, open to any man of plain common sense, 
which may furnish an answer to the question, " Was it from 
heaven, or of men ? " 

§ YI. Further proofs, if further can be needed, that the 
genuine gospel is distinguished from all human 

° ° ^ Practice of the 

devices by that peculiarity which has been here apostles conforma- 

ble to the lessons 

pomted out, — yet turtner prooi oi this, i say, they had received 
may be furnished by the conduct of Christ's 
immediate followers. "We find them cheerfully undergoing 
toils and sufferings of various kinds in the propagation of the 
gospel^ — submitting to imprisonment, — glorying in stripes, 
braving various dangers, — " ready not to be bound only, but 
also to die, for the name of the Lord Jesus," — so harassed 
and persecuted that Paul says, " If in this life only we have 
hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." And yet we 
not only find no mention of any self-inflicted sufferings or pri- 
vations, but we even find them always taking care to preserve 
themselves from persecutions and all other outward afflictions, 
whenever this could be done without any detriment to the 
great cause they were engaged in, — without denying their 
Master5 or shrinking from his service. 

Twice we find Paul pleading his rights as a Roman citizen, 
which entitled him to an exemption from bonds and stripes 
when uncondemned, — at Philippi, where he boldly rebuked the 
magistrates for their illegal infliction of these indignities, and at 
Jesusalem, where the chief captain Lysias was alarmed into 
forbearance. How is this to be reconciled with " rejoicing to 
be thought worthy to suffer the shame of stripes for the name 
of the Lord Jesus ? " Evidently, only in this way : that the 
" cross " which each disciple was required to bear, was to be 
his cross, — that the endurance of suffering was then only a 



288 



WHATELT'S ESSAYS. 



Christian virtue when it was not self-imposed — when it was 
not avoidable except by the abandonment of the Christian 
cause. The persecutions they were to rejoice in must not be 
courted persecutions, but only such as were, to faithful Chris- 
tians, inevitable. 

And it was the same not with persecution only, but with 
every kind of danger and affliction from whatever cause. In 
the narrative of Paul's voyage to Eome, we find him taking 
every precaution against the impending dangers that could 
have been expected in the most timorous lover of life. Paul, 
who declares that to him to " die was gain," and that he had 
" a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better," 
— this very man remonstrated with the centurion against put- 
ting to sea at a dangerous season. And afterwards, when the 
ship strikes, although it had been revealed to Mm that no lives 
would be lost, yet understands (which is a very remarkable 
circumstance) that this implied the use of all ordinary human 
means to insure safety, and that he was bound not to neglect 
the use of these means. He takes measures to prevent the 
desertion of the mariners, without whom, he tells the centurion, 
''ye connot be saved 

In short, throughout the whole of the sacred narrative we 
find the apostles acting fully up to the spirit of their Lord's 
instructions; ready to "pluck out the eye," or "cut off tht^ 
hand " if it " offend," but not otherwise ; ready, each to " bear 
his cross," — his own cross, — the burden of affliction which 
Providence might see fit should be laid on him, but no other. 
We find them, in their Christian warfare, acting the part of 
good and faithful soldiers, whose duty is to endure cheerfully 
hardship and toil, — to brave wounds and death, when sum- 
moned to do so in the course of their service, — to shrink from 
nothing that they are commanded to do or to bear ; but never 
to expose themselves wantonly to danger when not commanded, 



ON SELF-DENIAL. 



289 



nor to inflict on themselves, merely in ostentation of tlieir 
fortitude, any sufferings or privations that have no other object. 

Such was the apostles' interpretation of their Lord's teach- 
ing ; and such was the example they left us of obedience to 
him. 



§ VII. How soon, and how much, Christians of later ages 
perverted that teaching, and departed from that introduction into 
example, is well known. Early introduced, and (^y-^^^^^^ churches 

' ^ of ascetic self-tor- 

widely spread, and hard to be eradicated, and opposition 

to the precepts and 

easily revived, is the notion of a man's becoming, practice of jesus 

-n 1 • » 1 p apostles, a 

by a presumptuous wiil-worship — by perform- proof of their di- 
ance of supposed services that have not been en- ^^^^ mission, 
joined — a sort of saviour to himself ; or of atoning himself for 
his own, and even for his neighbor's sins. And the introduc- 
tion of such notions and practices into the religion of the 
gospel, contrary to its original and proper character, shows more 
plainly even than the instances of the Pagan religions, how 
suitable to the "natural man" is the kind of " will-worship," 
and, consequently, how sure we should have been to find it in 
the teaching of Jesus, and in the precepts and practice of the 
apostles, if these men had not been indeed from God. 

Soon did men arise in the Christian churches, "speaking 
perverse things, to draw away disciples after them," distorting 
and misapplying the apostolic precepts and practice which they 
professed to follow, and pretending to imitate the apostles by 
inflicting on themselves such pains and privations as those 
apostles endured patiently when occurring in their path of 
Christian duty. 

The true way to imitate the apostles is by enduring, like 
them, not whatever may appear to us to afford the most admi- 
rable display of fortitude, but whatever trials are appointed to 
each man, — -not by going out of our way to create trials for 
2^ 



290 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



ourselves, but by steadily walking in the way whicli God's 
providence has marked out for each of us. Christian self- 
denial consists not in volunteering self-torture, but in " denying 
ungodliness and worldly lusts, and in living " (not at this or 
that particular season, but always) " soberly, righteously, and 
godly in this present life." 

If the amount of pain endured, and the degree of resistance 
to inclination — if self-denial in this sense were to be the 
measure of Christian excellence, then the Christian would, in 
proportion as he advanced, be continually becoming less and less 
acceptable in God's sight. For there can be no doubt that 
the restraint of bad propensities, and the practice of temperance, 
beneficence, gentleness, and every Christian virtue, become 
continually easier as the Christian character improves. Those 
therefore who adopt such a standard as that just mentioned, — 
who make self-denial, in the sense of iiainful mortification, the 
measure of their Christian proficiency — must resort to scJf- 
torture^ and go on continually devising fresh modes of making 
their service of God as irksome as possible ! 

And yet, strange as it appears, many are m^ore readily 
induced to adopt this course than that which the gospel really 
points out to us. Habitual self-control, and readiness and firm- 
ness in the performance of each appointed duty, whether 
agreeable or painful, is a kind of self-denial which is, as expe- 
rience shows, more difficult to the " natural man " than occa- 
sional, or even habitual austerities, and self-imposed hardships 
and pains. 

But for this more difficult task — for the practice of truly 
Christian self-denial — we have the promised aid of the Holy 
Spirit, which " helpeth our infirmities " ; and, through that help, ^ 
the subjugation of all evil passions, the " mortifying of the deeds 
of the flesh," however painful at first, will continually become 
easier in proportion as the Christian moral character improves. 



ox SELF-DENIAL. 



291 



Obedience to Christ's commands will continually become, to 
those " who are led by his Spirit," less and less of self-denial, 
because each man's self — his very nature and character — will 
become more and more conformed to the image of Christ ; and 
his faithful followers will more and more find, from their own 
happy experience, that his "yoke is easy, and his burden 
light." 

§ VIII. A considerable part, however, of the difficulties 
which occur to some minds in reference to the 

Indistinct and 

present subject, arise from the frequent men. confused notions 

respecting fasting^ 

tion in Scripture of " fasting ; " which, having arising from inat- 

, . p . /> . . T IT tention to tlie sen- 

been m aiter times oiten emomed, recommended, ses of tlie word and 
or practised, as a part of " self-denial " or " mor- Ihe^object ""of^ 
tification " (in the popular sense of those words), p^^^*'^^- 
and some having hastily taken for granted that it is prescribed 
or commended in Scripture, with that view, — that is, on the 
ground that self-inflicted suffering or privation is, as such, an 
acceptable service, — the inference has been drawn that the 
character of our religion must be, in that point at least, opposite 
to what has been just above described. 

Others, again, have supposed that fasting — as distinguished 
from scourging, wearing of sackcloth, and all other self-inflicted 
hardships — is a positive ordinance of the gospel ; or, again, 
that it is a moral duty, or at least a Christian virtue, and one 
which we should endeavor, in some way or other, to practise. 

And many, I believe, have a sort of vague, undefined, gen- 
eral impression left on the mind, composed of all these difierent 
notions confusedly blended together, which leads to a perplex- 
ing and painful state of doubt on the subject. Nothing, in- 
deed, but confusion of thought, and distressing uncertainty as to 
conduct, can be the result of an attempt to follow the guidance 
of Scripture without taking the pains to examine and carefully 



292 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



reflect on what we read. And yet there are persons who, in 
reference to the present subject, have never even thought of 
inquiring as to several points which must present themselves 
to any one who is seeking to obtain distinct notions concern- 
ing it. 

What is meant by the word " fasting," in Scripture, and 
whether it is always the same thing that is meant in every 
place where the word occurs, — with what view it was in each 
case practised by those whom we read of as fasting, — whether 
simply as a self-inflicted suffering^ or as a penance^ or as a dis- 
cipline resorted to for the repression of any sinful propensity, 
or, again, merely as an outward sign of mourning, — whether any 
kind of fast is enjoined in Scripture, so as to bind Christians 
in all ages ; and again, if it he a duty, in what manner it is to 
be performed, and whether it is to be regarded as a natural 
moral duty like that of integrity or beneficence, or of a positive 
ordinance like the Jewish passover or the Christian eucharist, 
— all these are questions naturally occurring to the mind of 
one who is not satisfied with notions utterly vague and con- 
fused, and which yet some persons have not inquired into 
at all. Nay, one may even meet with persons who have 
hardly ever thought of considering attentively the difference, 
generally, between what are called positive precepts, and moral 
precepts — between things which are right because they are 
commanded, and those which are commanded because they are 
right. 

There are many who would probably state this distinction 
correctly if the question were put to them in the abstract, who 
yet are perpetually losing sight of it in practice, especially in 
what relates to the following of apostolic example, copying 
apostolic precedents, etc. On the one hand, natural (moral) 
duties, being such independently of express command, the pre- 
cepts relative to these are to be regarded rather as a " stir- 



ON SELF-DENIAL. 



203 



ring up of a pure mind by way of remembrance " (2 Pet. iii.), 
than as the enactment of a new rule ; and the examples set 
before us are rather an illustration of a principle, and an incite- 
ment to emulation, than patterns to be minutely copied. None 
but a disingenuous caviller would require to be told precisely 
what portion of his income he should give in charity, on what 
occasions, and in what mode, he should practise integrity or 
temperance ; and whether these duties were to be such perma- 
nently, or only for a temporary emergency. On the other 
hand, in respect of things originally and intrinsically indiffer- 
2nt, — such as rites and ceremonies, and ecclesiastical regula- 
tions of all kinds, — we may expect clear commands and precise 
directions as to anything that we are to be bound to do ; and any 
recorded practice of the apostles must be (if so intended) dis- 
tinctly declared to be a precedent which all future ages are 
strictly bound to conform to. For instance, the command is 
distinct to commemorate the sacrifice of Christ, — to " show 
forth the Lord's death till he come,'' — by partaking of bread 
and wine ; but the use of leavened or of unleavened bread 
(which latter we know must have been used at the institution 
of the rite), and the retaining or discontinuing of the love- 
feasts (agapae), which we know used in early times to succeed 
the eucharist ; and, again, the posture of the communicants, 
and the form of administration, — these points, since no dis- 
tinct directions as to them are given, seem left to the discretion 
of each church; and are considered (which is worthy of 
remark) as thus left at large, even by those who pretend to 
hold that every apostolic usage is absolutely binding on all 
Christians for ever. And it is the same with other similar 
cases. In such points, to follow " apostolic example " is to 
" let all things be done to edifying." 

The two opposite errors — that of expecting, in respect of 
points of natural morality, to find in Scripture distinct com- 
25* 



294 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



mands and detailed directions as to every case that can arise, 
and that of regarding, in respect of things intrinsically indif- 
ferent, every recorded, or even suspected, apostolic usage as 
a precedent and model from which no Christians must venture 
ever to depart, though there be no injunction in Scripture to 
that effect (which principle, however, none of those who main- 
tain it have ever fully followed out with honest consistency) — 
these two opposite errors, each imply a confounding together of 
" natural " and " positive " obligation. 

And, indeed, attentive reflection altogether, and patient and 
careful study of what Scripture teaches, — anything answering 
to that diligent attention with which any one applies himself 
to any history, art, or science which he is anxious to learn, — 
all this — as I have observed above — is what too many men 
seem to regard as needless, or even as improper, in respect of 
religious concerns : as if we were to be instructed in Chris- 
tian faith and practice by simply opening the Bible at hazard, 
and taking any passage that happens to meet the eye, and 
attaching to it any meaning that happens to occur to the mind. 

The varieties of practice which have arisen in various 
countries and ages in respect of the present subject, are 
such as might have been expected from the various and 
often vague and ill-defined notions that have existed in the 
minds of different persons. Some have considered that fast- 
ing is to be practised by Christians as a kind of imitation 
of the fast of their Master in the wilderness at the time of 
his temptation. And indeed in the greater part of Christendom 
the commemoration of that event has long been made, partly 
by some kind of fast established as a church ordinance ; 
though it can be but a symbolical and figurative reference that 
any such fast can have to the event commemorated. It evi- 
dently cannot be a direct imitation of Christ's example ; since 
his abstinence, supposing it to have been, as it appears, from 



ON SELF-DENIAL. 



295 



food altogether, must have been perfectly miraculous ; and 
since we are also expressly told that it was not till the end 
of the forty days that he was assailed by the temptation of 
hunger. 

Again, some have regarded fasting as dependent on the 
quality^ others on the quantity^ of the food taken, and others 
on both ; while some, again, have considered it as consisting in 
total abstinence from all food. The Mahometans, whose reli- 
gion is based on the Jewish and the Christian (such as Ma- 
homet found them), take this last view ; and during the fast- 
month of Ramadan above alluded to, regard the swallowing 
of even a drop of water between sunrise and sunset as a vio- 
lation of the fast. Of the same character, also, are reported to 
be the fasts of the Abyssinian Christians ; while others, again, 
lay no restriction even on the use of strong liquors, and make 
everything depend on the distinction between different kinds 
of meats. 

And there prevails a still greater degree, if possible, of 
variety of opinion, uncertainty, and confusion of thought, as to 
the grounds of the practice, — whether it is to rest on the 
authority of Scripture, or of a church — as to the character 
of it, — whether it is to be regarded as a moral or as a 'positive 
duty ; and again, as to the ohject of it, — whether it is to be 
observed as a mode of self-inflicted pain (like the flint bed or 
the scourge), and as being on that ground acceptable to God, 
or, again, as a mode of bringing the body into subjection to the 
Spirit, in the way of weakening evil passions and fortifying 
the intellectual and moral portions of the mind. And the 
employment (as was observed above) of the word " mortifica- 
tion " in different senses, — to denote sometimes the one, and 
sometimes the other, of these two things, — contributes to in- 
crease the vagueness and perplexity I have been alluding to. 
That word is commonly applied, as has been already remarked, 



296 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



in ordinary language, — not (in tlie scriptural sense) to the 
subjugation of sin, but to any kind of suffering simply as suf- 
fering. And in this sense it has no special reference to fasting^ 
more than to any other Isxndi of painful privation. Abstinence 
from food, or confinement to scanty or to unpleasant food, or 
privation of sleep, or walking barefoot on rugged stones, or 
kneeling in a painful posture, or wearing of hair cloth or of 
disgustingly filthy garments, or any other infliction of pain, 
would equally be called a " mortification." ^ 

To attempt to discuss fully all the several questions that 
pertain to this subject, would be to enter on too wide a field of 
inquiry. But something will have been gained, if we can but 
clear up the sense of some of those passages of Scripture 
which have been indistinctly or erroneously understood, and 
which have consequently occasioned difficulty and distressing 
doubt, and erroneous practice. 

§ IX. First, then, we should mark and set aside all those 
passages (and there are several) in which " fast- 
often used to do- ing " is spoken of in the sense, simply, of ab- 

note, simply, want o £• i r> ' i* i i* 

of food, without sence oi food, or oi sufficient lood, or oi regu- 
Tlry^hstu^enT""' mcals, without any reference to a voluntary 
act, or any connection with religion. 

Such is, for instance, the passage (Acts xxvii.) where, in 
the course of the narrative of the storm which Paul and his 
companions encountered on the voyage to Rome, it is mentioned 
that they had " fasted fourteen days, having taken nothing : " 
by which, of course, we must understand merely that they had 
taken no regular meals in all that time, but, in the midst of 
the unceasing terror, and exertion, and confusion occasioned 
by the tempest, had only occasionally snatched a morsel of 
food sufficient to sustain life. 

This kind of distress — besides many others — Paul was 
1 See K"ote at the end of this Essay. 



ON SELF-DENIAL. 



297 



frequently exposed to in his many sea-voyages and land-jour- 
neys, on occasions not recorded in the book of Acts ; as we 
learn from his Second Epistle to the Corinthians (xi. 27), 
where he speaks of himself as having been " in weariness and 
painfulness, in watcliings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings 
often, in cold and nakedness," etc. 

That the " fastings " of which he is here speaking are of 
the description just mentioned, and not any kind of religious 
exercise, is plain from the context ; as he is manifestly enumer- 
ating not his devotional practices, but his hardships and trials. 

His " fastings," accordingly, — amounting occasionally not 
merely to pain from hunger and thirst, but to distressing famine, 
— are mentioned, not along with prayers and meditations, but 
with " perils " and " stripes " and " stoning." And it is ob- 
servable also that the " watchings " which he likewise mentions 
in the same place, have no reference to any sort of voluntary 
exercise. In our version, indeed, the word corresponds with 
that in our Lord's exhortation to " watch and pray ; " but in the 
original quite different words are employed. In the exhorta- 
tion, to " watch " (yp-qyodv) is to be vigilant like a sentinel ; in 
Paul's description of his sufferings, " watching " {ay pvirv La) 
means " privation of sleep," — " want of repose. " And the 
same words are employed in the same manner when he speaks, 
in another place, of being " in distresses, in stripes, in imprison- 
ments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings^ in fastings.''^ 

On many occasions, again, fasting, — in the other, and now 
more popular sense ; that is, voluntary absti- Fasting an ordi- 
nence, — is mentioned both in the Old and New companiment^ ac- 
Testaments ; sometimes as a customary and estab- l'^'^'"" f ^ 

' J isJi usage 01 inourri- 

lished sign of mourning, along with wearing of ^"^ """^^ prayer. 
sackcloth and sprinkling of ashes on the head, and sometimes, 
again, as an ordinary accompaniment of especially solemn 
prayer, according to ancient Eastern custom. 



298 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



Besides many other parts of the Old Testament, we may 
perceive from the narrative of David's fasting and weeping for 
his child when it was sick, and of the surprise of his servants 
at his not fasting after it was dead, how well known and cus- 
tomary a sign it was both of mourning and of earnest devotion. 
And the only fast appointed by the law of Moses, that on the 
great day of atonement (Levit. xxiii. 26), — in which, by the 
way, the word "fast " does not itself occur, nor any special refer- 
ence to abstinence from food, — the Israelites are directed to 
" afflict their souls ; " that is, to keep a day of solemn " mourn-- 

Then, again, it was also, as I have said, a customary accom- 
paniment of prayer^ among the Jews, and those who adopted 
their usages ; as we may collect from several incidental noti- 
ces. For instance, the Prophetess Anna is mentioned as one 
who served God habitually in the temple with " fasting and 
prayer ; " and Cornelius the centurion, as " fasting and pray- 
ing" in his house when the angel appeared to him. And 
several other such cases are incidentally recorded. 

Of course we cannot suppose that fasting was an accompani- 
ment of every prayer, else there would be no need ever to men- 
tion it at all ; but only, we may suppose, on those more solemn 
occasions when a certain time was set apart for a course of 
prayer. And such, I conceive, must have been the "prayer 
and fasting " alluded to by our Lord in reference to the demo- 
niac whom the disciples had failed to relieve. They had not, 
we know, unlimited power, as their Master had, of working 
miracles. It was given them on certain occasions ; and the 
giving of it was, in some way or other, intimated to them ; 
as, on Peter, for instance, the power of walking on the sea 
was conferred by his Lord's command. And we find them 
sometimes 'praying for the power to perform a certain miracle ; 
as, we may collect, was done by Peter before he raised up 



ON SELF-DENIAL. 299 

Tabitha from death (Acts ix.). In the case of that demoniac, 
it should seem that our Lord tells the disciples thej should not 
have attempted to perform the cure without having first re- 
ceived some clear intimation of their commission to perform it, 
such as should remove all douht from their minds (whence he 
tells them that they failed from want of faith ; that is, they 
proceeded while in a state of uncertainty) ; and that in order to 
obtain such assurance, they should have first resorted to a 
course of special, persevering supplication for the miraculous 
power, — to that, in short, which they would understand him to 
mean by " prayer and fasting." 

We also find prayer and fasting mentioned in the book of 
Acts on the occasion of the ordaining of ministers ; an occa- 
sion on which a solemn course of prayer (such as, according to 
Jewish usage, was accompanied by fasting) was to be looked for. 



§ X. What the kind of abstinence was that the Jews were 
accustomed to use on such occasions, we are 

, 1 T • n • ^ixo^g injunctions 

nownere told m bcripture. to prayer by our 

It is remarkable that though neither prayer Tesuimenr^ quit! 
nor fasting occupy any considerable place in the 

<^ i- *> -t mention of fasting. 

Mosaic law, — no prayer at all being enjoined, 
except in one passage (Deut. xxvi.), where the Israelite is 
directed, on the occasion of a festival occurring but once in 
three years, to implore God's blessing on his people, — yet both 
prayer and fasting were practised by the Jews of their own 
accord. It is also remarkable that notwithstanding they did 
habitually practise the duty of prayer, yet our Lord deemed 
it needful to give very frequent and earnest injunctions to 
that efiect ; exhorting men to " pray always and not to faint," 
and enforcing his precepts by several parables, lest in after 
ages prayer should fall into disuse.^ For fasting, on the other 



1 See Lectures on the Parables, Lec. X. 



300 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



hand, neither he nor his apostles give any injunction at all as 
making it any part of Christian duty. 

But it was our Lord's general rule to leave untouched all 
the existing customs of his own age and country, except where 
they were sinful, — where the Pharisees had " made the word 
of God of none effect through their tradition." 

He censures also the ostentatious manner in which both 
prayer and fasting were practised by the Pharisees ; exhort- 
ing men to make no public display of those devotions which 
were of a private character. Public worship in the temple and 
in the synagogues it is plain He never meant to forbid ; but 
it is for offering up their prayers in the streets and in the mar- 
ket-place that He censures the hypocrites. Those prayers and 
fasts of these men, which were thus ostentatiously displayed, 
evidently did not profess to be any part of the established 
public worship. And when He was asked, reproachfully, why 
His disciples did not, like those of the Pharisees and of John, 
practise fasting, there is no imputation cast on Him for a viola- 
tion of the law J or neglect of any public ordinance ; but merely 
wonder and blame are expressed that, while He professed to be 
a religious teacher, his disciples should exhibit, apparently, a 
less religious mode of life, in one respect, than the followers of 
John and of the Pharisees. 

His answer to the inquiry has reference to what I have 
above remarked, — of fasting being understood as an accompan- 
iment and sign of mourning : (Matt. ix. 15) " Can the children 
of the bride-chamber mourn " (in Mark ii. 19 the word is 
"fast^^) "as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the 
days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, 
and then will they fast." A wedding was, we know, a scene 
of especial festivity among the Jews ; with which anything 
savoring of mourning, among the bridegroom's companions 
(the " children of the bride-chamber " ) would have been incon- 
sistent ; but when the bridegroom (by which it is plain He 



ON SELF-DENIAL. 



301 



means Himself ) shall be taken from them, " then," says He, 
" thej will fast in those days." 

From this passage is is plain, among other things, that 
neither our Lord nor the questioners had any thought of self- 
discipline as a legitimate purpose of " fasting " (a notion which 
arose several years after) ; for in that point of view the disci- 
ples would have needed it while their Lord was with them, as 
well as afterwards ; so that his reply would have been nothing 
to the purpose. 

It is to be further remarked respecting this passage, that it 
contains no precept as to what His disciples were enjoined to 
do : only a prophecy of what would take place. It is, however, 
important to determine aright what it was that the prophecy 
realted, to — what period is denoted by " those days ; " since it 
was a period during which mourning is spoken of, — not indeed 
as a thing commanded^ but as natural and suitaUe for Christ's 
disciples. 

§ XI. Now some have understood by " those days " all ages 
of the Christian church subsequent to the depart- What were the 
ure of Jesus in bodily person from the earth : com- ing'^'^b/ th^dbd- 
prehending therefore in those days of mourning, ^o^i'^eCtken 
the present, and all future time till his triumphant 
return to judge the world at the last day. But this is surely to 
overlook, or greatly to misunderstand, his own words. For in 
some of his later discourses to the disciples, recorded by John, 
he dwells very fully and strongly on the sorrow they will feel 
at the loss of their Master, which sorrow was to be succeeded 
hj joy — lasting joj — at his return. " Because I have said, 
I go my way to Him that sent me .... sorrow hath filled your 
heart. Nevertheless — I tell you the truth — it is expedient for 
you that I go away ; for if I go not away the Comforter will 
not come unto you, but if I depart I will send him," etc. 
26 



302 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



" Ye will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice ; and ye 
will be sorrowful, but your sorrow sball be turned into joy ; 
.... and ye now therefore have sorrow ; but I will see you 
again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taheth 
from you " (John xvi. 6, 20). 

Now the disciples, it is true, had to spend their lives, for 
the most part, in trials, dangers, indignities, persecutions, and 
various kinds of hardship. And some have imagined that the 
period of " mourning " Jesus alludes to — " then shall they 
fast in those days " — denotes this life of suffering which awaited 
them after his departure in the body. But I greatly wonder 
that any one should so utterly overlook what is said both by 
himself and his apostles. It would indeed be very natural for 
an ordinary man to regard as a period of mourning that life 
of privation and hardship to which the first preachers of the 
gospel were subjected ; but far different, and indeed contrary, 
was the view which they themselves and their great Master 
took of it. The " mourning " he alludes to was not on account 
of bodily afflictions, but on account of the loss of him their 
Lord ; which sorrow was to be completely and finally removed : 
their " joy no man was to take from themJ^ But as for worldly 
troubles and hardships, these were a kind of trial which he pre- 
pared them not to mourn for, but to endure joyfully. " Peace," 
says he (John xiv.), " I leave wdth you ; my peace^I give unto 

you : not as the world giveth, give I unto you In the world 

ye shall have tribulation ; but be of good cheer, I have over- 
come the world." And again, "Blessed are ye when men 
shall hate you, and shall separate you from their company, and 
reproach you ; . . . . when they shall persecute you for right- 
eousness' sake : . . . . rejoice in that day, and leap for joy," etc. 

And well did the apostles learn and practise, and inculcate on 
their converts, the lesson He had taught them. " My brethren," 

1 €ip7jl/^J/ tV ^A^V. 



ON SELF-DENIAL. 



303 



sajs the Apostle James, " count it all joy when ye fall into 
clivers temptations ; " that is, trials by persecution. " They 
departed rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer 
shame/' ^ etc. " I am filled," says Paul,^ " with comfort ; I 
am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation," etc. To the world 
they might appear " of all men most miserable ; " but they 
themselves felt quite otherwise : they were " as sorrowful, 
yet always rejoicing." 

From these and many other passages, but much more still 
from the general tone of the New Testament writers, we may 
plainly see that the days of "mourning" which our Lord 
alludes to cannot have been the life of hardship which awaited 
the preachers of the gospel, nor could have had any reference 
to such outward afflictions. That time of mourning for their 
Lord's absence was evidently, first, the interval of desponding 
sorrow between his crucifixion and his appearance after the 
resurrection;^ and secondly, in a less degree, that interval of 
comparative loneliness, though cheered by hope, — that twi- 
light following the darkness of despondency, and preceding 
the restoration of a full sunshine, — the interval between the 
ascension and the day of Pentecost, when their Master was 
restored to them, not in body, but in Spirit, as the " Comforter 
who should abide with them for ever." ^ 

If, indeed, it had been a new Master — a different Being — 
that they were then and thenceforth to be under, though sent 
by their former Master, their joy would not have been " full : " 
they would still have mourned the departure of him in whose 
service they had originally enlisted. Any one who has a heart 
for friendship, ~ who knows what real personal attachment is, 
— knows well that its object is, not certain qualities merely, 

1 Acts V. 41. 2 2 Cor. vii. 4. S See Luke xxiv. 17. 

4 The title Paraclete, rendered in the Gospel of John " Comforter," is applied 
to Jesus in the first epistle^ in which our version renders it " Advocate." 



304 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



but a certain individual person, " Substitute," " successor," 
" equal," " similar," " equally good," are words unknown in 
His vocabulary. The cravings of an affectionate heart can 
only be satisfied with the very person on whom it is fixed. 
The dejection of the disciples, therefore, in the absence of their 
original Master, would never have been wholly removed by 
any gifts conferred under the dominion of a different Being. 

But this — thouo-h the lan2ruao:e of some writers would lead 
one to take such a view — is very far from being that view 
which Jesus taught his disciples to take, and which they did 
take, of their condition. On the contrary, he seems to have 
sedulously guarded them against any such thought. " I will 
not," says he, " leave you comfortless : / will come unto you." 
. . . . "I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice." And 
that this cannot refer to the interval between the resurrection 
and the ascension is plain from his adding, " Your joy no man 
taketli from you^ And again, " If a man love me, he will 
keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will 
come unto him. and make our abode with him." 

And in like manner Paul, in speaking of the graces of the 
Holy Spirit, says, " K any man have not the Spirit of Christy 
he is none of his :"...." The Lord " (Jesus) is the (that) 
Spirit (TO Uvevfia). 

It is plain therefore that no mourning — no fast in that sense 
— was designed to be the habitual condition — the general 
standing: rule of the Christian church. 



§ XII. As for fasting of any other description, whether as 
Fasting one of ^u outward sigu of moumiug on extraordinary 

the things left by . • . r ai 

the apostles to the occasions, or an accompaniment ot prayer, the 
decision of Chris- ^^^^ writcrs liavc left thc whole matter to the 

tian churches and 

of individuals. discrction of Christians, whether as private in- 
dividuals or as churches. In the course of their narratives 



OlSr SELF-DENIAL. 



305 



they have recorded^ incidentallj, the existing practices, but 
have nowhere given any injunctions or directions on the sub- 
ject. "While earnestly inculcating the habitual use of prayer, 
both public and private, they have left each church in respect 
of public congregational prayers, and each individual Chris- 
tian in respect of his private devotions, to regulate the partic- 
ular modes of fulfilling that duty as may to each seem best, 
so that " all things," says the apostle, " be done to edifying." 

A further admonition, however, is given by the same apostle 
(Rom. xiv. 2) not to judge harshly, or, again, to speak con- 
temptuously of one another in respect of these matters. 
" One man believeth that he may eat all things ; another, who 
is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him 
that eateth not, and let not him that eatheth not judge him 
that eateth. Who art thou that judgest another man's ser- 
vant? To his own master he standeth or falleth." And 
again, he tells us that meat doth not recommend us to God, 
for that we are not the better or the worse for eating or for not 
eating, but that " whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we 
do, we should do all to the glory of God." 

It is probable the apostle had here in view, principally at 
least, the scrupulous dread of some weak brethren of eating 
something that had been strangled, or that had been ofiered to 
idols. The principle, however, which he is inculcating is of 
very general application ; namely, that with respect to matters 
intrinsically indifferent, and on which no positive command 
has been given, each is to act according to the best of his own 
judgment, and not presume to condemn or to despise others 
for not coinciding with him. 

In respect of these points, then, as well as many others,^ the 
inspired writers have left, as I have said, the determination to 
the responsible discretion of each church, or of each individual 

1 See Essay II., on the Kingdom of Christ, § 13. 

26* 



30G 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



Christian. And eacli church has a right — in respect of such 
things as are neither distinctly enjoined by Scripture or by 
natural conscience, nor, again, at variance with either of these, 
— to enact, or abrogate, or alter from time to time any public 
ordinances, according as to each may appear most conducive 
to edification. 

To teach however as a duty, or as a Christian virtue, self- 
denial, not in the gospel sense of the word, but in the sense of 
pain or privation voluntarily undergone, as a thing in itself, 
and as such acceptable to God, — this would be to exceed 
the legitimate powers of a church ; because it is, as we have 
seen, at variance with the whole spirit of the gospel religion. 
This, and sundry other developments (as the modern phrase 
is) of the gospel scheme — that is, in plain terms, human ad- 
ditions to a divine revelation — were introduced in early ages 
of the church, and have always found admission, more or less, 
in a great part of the Christian world. But our reformers, 
whatever opinion may be formed as to what their decisions 
were, or ought to have been, as to some points,^ must at least 
be acknowledged to have kept perfectly free from the above- 
mentioned error : that of representing gratuitous, self-imposed 
suffering — whether from hunger and thirst, or cold, or scourg- 
ings, or beds of flint, or of whatever kind — as an acceptable 
Christian service. Neither as an atonement for sin, nor as, in 
any way, a Christian duty, do they recommend or countenance 
any kind of voluntary self-inflicted pain, simply as pain, and 
as on that ground approved by our heavenly Master ; or as 
either something to be superadded to, or substituted for, the 
duty of habitual temperance and self-control. 

§ XIII. The danger, however, is not only so great, but 
likewise so palpable, of giving way to intemperance or to lux- 

1 See Note B, at the end of this Essay. 



ON SELF-DENIAL. 



307 



urious self-indulgence, that manj are apt to disbelieve or 
overlook all danger on the side of asceticism, 

Danger of asceti- 

and to consider that as being, at the worst, no cisra less palpaUe^ 

but not less real' 

more than a harmless error, leading to no evil than that of seus- 
bevond the unnecessary bodily suffering under- 
gone, — as something superfluous, but nowise mischievous. 
But in truth nothing is harmless that is mistaken for a virtue. 
Whatever is practised and admired as a Christian duty, when 
it is none, is likely to be worse than useless : and to dwell ever 
so copiously, and eloquently, and truly on one class of faults, 
does not go a step towards disproving the reality, or the mag- 
nitude, or the danger of a different class of faults. 

In the present instance, besides the danger above adverted 
to of combining hoth faults, — of compensating, by austerities 
at particular seasons, for habitual self-indulgence at other 
times, — there are also other evils connected with asceticism. 
Experience will show to any one who carefully and candidly 
surveys mankind, that it has a strong tendency to generate 
spiritual pride, uncharitable harshness towards opponents, and 
a general laxity of conscience in points not immediately con- 
nected with ascetic observances. Let any one look to the 
latter part of the third century, and the period immediately 
succeeding, and to every age and portion of the church in which 
ascetic mortification has most flourished, and he will find the 
general rule to be (subject, of course, like other general rules, 
to exceptions), that those most remarkable for excessive aus- 
terities have been remarkable also for overbearing pride — 
veiled from themselves and from others by a seeming humil- 
ity, — a pride fostered by the almost idolatrous veneration — 
far beyond what real Christian virtues generally obtain — that 
is bestowed by those around them. They will be found also, 
generally speaking, to have been distinguished by a morose 
and irritable temper ; impatient of opposition, bitter and ran- 



308 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 

corous in controversy, merciless persecutors, and often most 
unscrupulous in the use of pious frauds and disingenuous arti- 
fice^ in compassing their ends. 

The truth seems to be, that while the practice of any truly 
Christian virtue tends to cherish every other Christian virtue, 
purifying and elevating the moral taste, and Christianizing the 
whole character, the practice, on the contrary, of any spurious 
imitation of virtue is more likely to be substituted for general 
Christian morality than to prove a help towards it, and thus 
gradually to debase instead of exalting the character. Each 
point wherein we are truly copying the examples of Jesus 
and his apostles is an advance towards a resemblance to them, 
in principle and conduct, throughout ; because the genuine 
" fruits of the Spirit " all come from the same root ; and we 
are thus in the way to " add to our faith virtue, and to virtue 
knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, patience, godliness, 
brotherly kindness, charity." ^ 

Every superstition, on the contrary, — everything that is, 
either in practice or in principle, at variance with the character 
of those our great patterns, — tends, as far as it goes, to lead 
us away from them, and to divert religious sentiments into a 
wrong channel. 



§ XIV. Into superstition, of whatever kind, and, among 
others, that branch of it which consists in as- 
mo^mcatio'n fs in^- cctic sclf-torturc, uo ouc of caudid mind is likely 
rlTmets/^ ^® ^7 rcformcrs ; ^ who give, as I 

have before observed, no countenance to the 
notion of substituting for gospel morality, or superadding to it, 

1 See Dr. West's Discourse ou Reserve. 

2 2 Pet. i. 5. 

3 Accordingly we find — and it is a remarkable fact —that the advocates of 
asceticism among the (nominal) members of our church are accustomed, either 
openly or by oblique insinuations, to disparage these men, — to deny the great 



ON SELF-DENIAL. 



309 



periodical austerities, and endurance of gratuitous sufferings. 
In the Collect, for example, for the first Sunday in Lent, the 
virtue which they instruct us to pray that we may be enabled 
to practise, is, " to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being 
subdued to the Spirit, we may ever obey God's motions in 
righteousness and true holiness ; " which must evidently be a 
duty, not for a certain portion of each year or week, but for 
every time alike. The fasting and self-denial which they di- 
rect us to practise^ — in the sense of resistance to all temptations 
and patient endurance of every cross that may be laid on us, 
and constant self-control and subjugation of the appetites, and 
abstinence from every kind of luxurious excess — is evidently 
not a duty to be reserved for particular days and seasons, but 
to be habitually practised, and wrought into the whole charac- 
ter. For he who is a Christian at all, must be one constantly ; 
because he is, as such, a " living stone " of the temple of God's 
Spirit. " Know ye not," says the apostle, " that your bodies 
are the temple of the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in you? 
Now if any one," he adds, " defile the temple of God, him 
will God destroy." 

Let the Christian live, therefore, — not on this day or on 
that, but every day, — as becomes those who believe that they 
are a portion of the sanctuary, and who are preparing for the 
coming of Him " who shall change our vile body, that it may 
become like unto His glorious body, according to the mighty 
working whereby He is able to subdue all things unto Himself," 
and who, " having this hope in them," strive to " purify them- 
selves, even as he is pure." 

reform they effected, and to resort to the examples and precepts of what they 
call " the Primitive Church ;" that is, those ages most fruitful in developments, 
— in corruptions of the gospel religion, and unauthorized additions to it, devised 
by presumptuous men. 
1 See Note C, at the end of this Essay. 



310 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



NOTES TO ESSAY X. 



Note A — Pages 283, 286, 296. 

The following extract from the biographical panegyric of an 
ascetic nun (lately published) will show, as well as a multiude of 
other such records which might be cited, how nearly the Christian 
religion has been brought to a resemblance to that of the Hindus 
in the point of self-torture, and, one may add, almost of self-immola- 
tion. For though it is pretended that ascetics are advised to limit 
their inflictions at a point that will not endanger health, the praises 
bestowed on those who have not only endangered but manifestly 
shortened their lives — praises bestowed expressly on that very 
account — plainly show that no such limitation is really prescribed : 

" Each year she made a spiritual retreat of eight days, great part 
of which she spent in the church on bended knees ; and the night 
of Holy Thursday was ever, with her, one of sacred and uninter- 
mitting watching before the adorable sacrament of the altar ; yet 
it was only in performing, after her death, the last rites of friend- 
ship to her remains, that Tier hones were discovered to he excoriated 
and idceraied, and to have been so for years ; yet the acute pain 
which kneeling must have caused her, she bore with silent and 
enduring fortitude. She never whispered to her nearest and dearest 
associates a hint of her secret and long-continued suffering : it was 
known but to her and to God. The soles of her feet were at the 
same time found covered with tumors such as would have prevented 
any other person from walking, yet for the last three years of her 
life she walked over great part of the city, begging from door to door 
for the support of those charitable institutions which would otherwise 
have fallen to the ground. 

*' To such works was the life of Miss N devoted. In the year 

1789 she reached the fifty-sixth year of her age. In the spring of 
that year, the symptoms of a premature old age began to develop 
themselves in her exhausted frame," etc. — ■ See Dr. Gilly's " Vigilan- 
tius and his Times," Chap. VI. 



ON SELF-DEISTIAL. 



311 



Note B— Page 306. 

EXTRACT FROM AN ACT OF PARLIAMENT, IN THE REIGN OF EDWARD VI. 

A. D. 1549. 

" That althougli days and meats are in themselves alike, yet fasting 
being a great help to virtue, and to the subduing the body to the 
mind, and a distinction of meats conducing to the advayicement of the 
fishing-trade^ be it enacted that Lent, and all Fridays and Saturdays 
and ember days, should be fish-days." Penalties are annexed to the 
breaking of the law, except in the case of weak persons and those 
who had the hinges license. 



Note C — Page 309. 

What is to be regarded as the decision of our own church on this 
matter is a question on which considerable doubt, perplexity, and 
difference of opinion have arisen. To enter on a full discussion of 
it would be foreign from the main design of this volume, which is to 
elucidate the meaning, not of any uninspired formularies, but of some 
portions of Scripture. 

It may be worth while, however, to remark that fasting cannot be 
reckoned an " ordinance" properly so called, of our church. There 
are indeed allusions to it in some of our services, and also certain 
" days of fasting and abstinence," and likewise " feast-days " are 
noted in the calendar; but no injunctions are anywhere given to 
observe these days, nor any directions as to the mode of observance 
either of a fast or a feast. Now it would be an incorrect use of lan- 
guage, almost amounting to a contradiction, to speak of an ordinance 
which ordains nothing definite, — an injunction as to a positive duty, 
in which no one can say what it is that is enjoined. 

When the church directs what persons shall be baptized, shall be 
confirmed, shall receive the holy communion, no one can doubt what 
it is that he is required to do ; the appointed services being set forth, 
along with rubrical directions, in the Prayer-book. And if there had 
been an express command given that all members of the church 
should fast on certain days, we should have expected — as is mani- 
festly necessary in the case of any positive ordinance — that the details 
should be no less distinctly specified. For " if the trumpet give an 
uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself for the battle ? " 



812 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



And accordingly in those churches which do retain fasting among 
their public ordinances, all the particulars respecting the food to be 
used and abstained from, and respecting the dispensations that are 
to be allowed, are distinctly laid down, partly by each church itself, 
and partly, within certain specified limits, by each bishop, from year 
to year, within his own diocese. 

In our church, on the contrary, not only are no such directions 
given, but those very services just above alluded to seem to indicate 
that no public positive ordinance was designed ; but only — as in the 
case of almsgiving — an exhortation to the practice of a moral duty. 
For though the portion of service appointed in place of the epistle 
for Ash- Wednesday has a reference to a, public fast among the Jews, 
the gospel, on the other hand, that is selected, contains our Lord's 
animadversion on the ostentatious practice of the Pharisees in their 
private fasts, which he warns his disciples against, — " that thou ap- 
pear not unto men to fast : " an admonition which would be wholly 
inapplicable to any public ordinance. And again, when we look 
at the Collect for the first Sunday in Lent, we find it, as I have 
above remarked, referring altogether to the duty of habitual temper- 
ance, — " such abstinence, that, the flesh being subdued to the spirit, 
we may ever obey God's motions in righteousness and true holiness," 
— being evidently a moral duty, and one not pertaining to any par- 
ticular season, but to all times. 

And the very same duty, and no other, is inculcated throughout 
the homiliy on fasting. It refers indeed to passages of Scripture in 
which mention is made of fasting, more properly so called ; but the 
practical doctrine on which it dwells throughout is the duty of 
" keeping under the body, and bringing it into subjection," by habits 
ually refraining from any such indulgence of the appetites as may 
tend to cloud the intellect, to inflame the passions, or in any way to 
enslave the the higher parts of our nature to the baser. 

But neither there nor anywhere else is anything prescribed as to 
the quantity or quality of food to be taken, or as to any such partic- 
ulars. Each individual is left by our church to frame, and observe 
for himself, according to his own responsible discretion, whatever 
rules as to these points he may judge most suitable to the end pro- 
posed, — that of making the body not the master but the servant, 
and, as far as lies in him, the efficient servant of the spiritual portion 
of our nature. 

Those who, with this view, might find it most advisable to set aside 



ON SELF-DENIAL. 



313 



certain days — not indeed as the o?iIy times on which they should 
control their appetites, while they should, on others, give a loose to 
sensuality, but — on which they should use a more sparing diet than 
ordinary, and who might wish to select those particular days which 
they and their forefathers had been accustomed so to employ, — 
these, I conceive, were the persons for whose use the fast-days in the 
calendar were marked. 

But as there is no injunction for the observance of these days, so 
neither are there any directions as to the mode in which those who 
do observe them are to regulate that observance. 

If indeed the noting in the calendar of certain fast-days ha,d been 
a novelty introduced by the reformers, no such practice having ex- 
isted before, then, indeed, it might have been inferred that they 
designed to establish a positive ordinance on the subject, and had left 
their work unfinished, having intended to proceed to lay down such 
precise directions as must evidently be indispensably necessary for 
its observance. But as we know that the reverse of this was the 
fact, there seems no reason to doubt that their design in retaining 
the fast-days in the calendar was what has been above suggested ; 
and that they purposely abstained from laying down rules as for a 
public positive ordinance, meaning to leave the whole matter to the 
private discretion of each individual Christian. 

Our reformers probably judged it unsafe to make enactments on 
such a subject, on account of the great difference in men's bodily 
constitutions. That which would be a dangerously insufficient nour- 
ishment for one person, may be repletion or dangerous excess to 
another. The same length of abstinence, or the same kind of diet, 
which clears and invigorates the mind of one, may produce in another 
faintness, unfitness for all action of mind or body, or inaptitude for 
devout meditation. And the system of dispensations which vSuch 
diversities render necessary, makes an opening, as they doubtless 
well knew, for endless abuses and scandals. 

They judged it best, therefore, to lay down in this matter merely 
the principles on which we ought to act, — the end to be aimed at, — 
and to leave to the discretion and conscience of each individual the 
application of those principles, and the means towards that end. 

27 



ESSAY XI 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



§ 1. It is not my design to enter on a full discussion of all 



circumstance pertaining to them which I am most anxious 
to point out, and to insist on ; which is, that among manj 
persons (I do not say all) who are, in language, very much 
opposed to each other on this subject, the opposition is much 
greater in appearance than in reality. They are engaged, 
without being aware of it, in a controversy chiefly, if not 
altogether, verbal} 

Now it must be regarded by all who have anything of a 
genuine Christian spirit, as a most desirable object to obviate 
as far as possible all unnecessary dissension among Christians, 
and to bring to a mutual good understanding, as nearly as can 
be done without compromise of truth, all " who love the Lord 
Jesus Christ in sincerity." 

For, besides the immediate evils to those who are themselves 
engaged in any controversy, there is this additional danger also 

1 This remark, and a large portion of what follows, is the substance of observ- 
ations made in several conversations on the subject by the late Bishop Cople- 
ston, to whose memory, accordingly, I dedicated the Charge from which this 
Essay was drawn up. 



Controversies 
arising out of ver- 
bal difficulties. 



the questions that have so long agitated the 
church on the subject of regeneration, and 
those connected with that. But there is one 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



315 



to the Christian people generally, that many of them may be 
disposed to say, " Here are questions which are declared by ail 
to be of vital importance, yet on which the most learned divines 
are not agreed. If men apparently pious, and of far greater 
knowledge and ability than ours, find so much difficulty in 
agreeing to the sense of Scripture on points which they regard 
as of vital importance, what is to them a difficulty must be to 
us an impossibility; and Scripture can therefore contain no 
revelation, properly so called, or at least no revelation to the 
mass of mankind." And the result of these reflections will 
often be, that some will betake themselves to some supposed 
infallible church, or other guide, to whose dictates they will 
implicitly resign themselves ; while others will be, by the same 
course, led into infidelity.^ They see that there is no infallible 
and universally accessible guide on earth, and, moreover, that 
if there were it could not possibly be ascertained by men 
incompetent (by supposition) to exercise their private judg- 
ment, and who consequently could never have any good reason 
for trusting their judgment to decide rightly that most difficult 
question, — Who is the appointed guide ? — and they conse- 
quently reject the belief of any divine revelation at all. 

It is doubly important, therefore, to point out, where this can 
be done with truth, how far difficulties and disputes may have 
been created, or aggravated, by theologians themselves, either 
from their seeking to explain more than God has thought fit to 
reveal,^ or from interpreting Scripture according to the techni- 
cal phraseology of some theological school, or from overlooking 
variations in the senses in which several words are employed, 
and thus introducing undetected verbal controversy and conse- 
quent confusion of thought. 

1 See Sermon on the Search after Infallibility, and Lessons on Eeligious Wor- 
ship, L. VI. 

2 See Sermon on the Shepherds at Bethlehem, and also Lessons on Religious 
Worship, L. VII. 



316 



WIIATELTS ESSAYS. 



The terms " regenerate " and " regeneration/' or new birth, 
are commonly employed (as I have remarked in a work which 
has been now for many years well known to the public) in 
different senses by different persons.^ " Regeneration " denotes, 
in the language of some, merely that admission to Christian 
privileges and advantages which is the nece^sarj preliminary to 
a Christian life. Others employ the term to signify the con- 
dition into which a man is brought by that use of those advan- 
tages and privileges which constitutes a decided Christian 
character. And " regenerate," accordingly, is applied by those 
persons respectively to conditions as widely different as that 
of a new-born infant and that of a fully-formed adult. 

Without attempting to enter on a minute discussion of all 
the modifications of meaning that have ever been attached to 
these words, we may at least recognize the employment of 
them in the two widely-different senses just mentioned. And 
not only by different persons, but sometimes even by the same, 
these words (as well as several others) will be found to be 
occasionally used with different significations. Undesignedly, 
and unconsciously, a person will sometimes, even at a short 
interval, slide from one meaning to another of some of the 
expressions he is employing. 

Now whatever may be the importance of adhering to the 
most correct use of any term, and whichever may be, in this 
case, the more correct, it is surely the first point — the first in 
order, and the first also in importance ■■ — to perceive distinctly 
the ambiguity that does actually exist, and to keep clear of the 
many injurious misapprehensions which may arise from attrib- 
uting to those who use a term in one sense, conclusions which 
depend on its being taken in a different sense. 

For example, a person may be exposed to a groundless 
imputation of leading men into a vain and dangerous reliance 

1 Logic, Appendix : Article " Regeneration." 



ON INFxVNT-BAPTISM. 



317 



on baptismal privileges, and of teaching them that all who have 
been duly baptized are in a safe state ; when perhaps in fact 
he may have never said or implied any such thing, but may 
have merely been employing the word " regenerate " according 
to what he regards as the most scriptural usage ; and then has 
had imputed to him mferences vfliioh would followed if he 
had employed that word in quite another sense. And perhaps 
it may turn out, on calm investigation, that such a person, and 
some w^ho had been at first very strongly disposed to censure 
him, do not in reality disagree to any considerable extent as to 
the substance of the doctrines they maintain. 

I have seen something like the above imputation thrown out 
in a work which several years ago obtained considerable popu- 
larity. It was professedly a description (veiled under a slight 
tale) of various prevailing religious opinions and modes of con- 
duct ; and some of the pictures drawn w^ere both striking and 
just. But among others, a careless clergyman is introduced 
deprecating any anxiety felt by any of his people as to their 
spiritual state, and saying that " of course all Christians w^ill be 
saved ; and whoever is baptized is a Christian." Now I feel 
certain, from long experience and attentive observation, that 
there is no ground w^iatever for the imputation here conveyed. 
I mean that it is not true, as is evidently designed to be 
implied, that there exists any party, school, or class of men 
among our clergy — even the worst of them — who teach such 
a doctrine. Yet it is probable that the representation w^as not 
a designed calumny, but w^as merely an " idle word," originat- 
ing in a misconception such as I have been alluding to, as the 
result of a hasty and inconsiderate interpretation of another's 
expressions, and of rash inferences therefrom. 

§ 11. Let any one, then, but consider — and this is an in- 
quiry w^ell-becoming those who would cherish a spirit of Chris- 
27# 



318 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



tian charity — how much there may be of agreement, and that 
Importance of most cssential practical points, between 



to think hardly of each other. 

Two persons accustomed to employ, respectively, the word 
" regeneration " in the different senses just alluded to, may 
agree in reverencing the rite of baptism, and in administering 
it according to the same rules. Both may be also accustomed 
to warn men against placing an indolent confidence in gospel 
privileges, and to teach them that to have been enrolled as 
members of Christ's church is an advantage for the use of which 
we are responsible, and which will but increase the condemnation 
of such as do not " walk worthy of their vocation." Both may 
teach that (in the words of our sixteenth Article), "after we have 
received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and 
fall into sin ; and by the grace of God we may arise again, and 
amend our lives." ^ And they may agree in teaching that 
" God desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he 
should turn from his wickedness and live ; " and in exhorting 
every one who does live a careless and irreligious, or a vicious 

1 Some divines of the present day (professedly of our church) express doubts, 
nearly, if not completely, amounting to a denial of the doctrine of this Article: 
teaching that sins committed after baptism are either totally unpardonable, or 
are to be atoned for by penance (See Rogers' Essays, Vol. II. Essay II., pp. 
85, 86). Should such views prevail, they may be expected to lead first to a re- 
jection of infant-baptism, and afterwards to the practice (not unfrequent in the 
early church) of deferring baptism to the deathbed. 

It would be thought by many a cruelty to place a person, without his own con- 
sent^ and in unconscious infancy, in a situation so far much more disadvanta- 
geous than that of those brought up Pagans, that if he did ever — suppose at 
the age of fifteen or twenty — fall into any sin, he must remain for the rest of 
his life — perhaps for above half a century — deprived of all hope, or at least of 
all confident hope, of restoration to the divine favor, — shut out from all that 
cheering prospect which, if his baptism in infancy had been omitted^ might have 
lain before him. 



dwelling on points 
of practical agree- 
ment. 



men who at the first glance might appear 
widely opposed, and who perhaps are inclined 



ON mFANT-BAPTISM. 



319 



life, to repent, and seek divine mercy through Christ, and 
strength to accomplish a thorough reformation ; though in many 
instances to the same sort of change which the one of these 
instructors would call " regeneration " or " new birth," the other 
might apply the terms " conversion," " revival," " renewal," etc. 
Both might agree in teaching that a holy life is the test of 
effectual, profitable regeneration, and in exhorting all men to 
lead such a life. On this, the important, practical point, they 
would not differ at all. 

Now if this be so, it cannot but be desirable that men should 
be at least guarded against supposing themselves, through the 
influence of the language they employ, to be more at variance 
than they really are. And it is accordingly a point of Chris- 
tian duty, when any such occasion arises, to point out the dan- 
ger of such an error, and thus to promote reconcilement, or 
at least mitigate hostility, between those engaged in any con- 
troversy. 

Let no one, however, calculate on finding that the fulfilment 
of this duty will obtain for him — for the present at least — 
the favor or good opinion of the disputants. On the contrary, 
the most vehement of these will usually bestow their chief 
applause on the most eloquent champion on their own side, 
and will even be disposed to charge those who seek to mediate 
between the contending parties with lukewarmness, or coward- 
ice, or dissimulation, — with ignorance of important truths, or 
with a readiness to make a base compromise for the sake of 
human favor. 

And it may be added that not only the disputants themselves, 
but many of the bystanders also, even those of them who take 
but little interest in the subject under discussion, for its own 
sake, will be disposed to heap abuse or derision on any one 
who appears to come forward as a mediator. For the vulgar- 
minded, of all countries and ages, and of all ranks, find an 



320 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



amusing excitement in the spectacle of a controversy analogous 
to that which attracted the ancient E-omans to their gladiatorial 
shows. And hence they are disposed to feel or to affect con- 
tempt for any who seek to mitigate hostility, or to cut short a 
contest. 

Many, also, when they hear of any discussion relating to the 
employment ofterms^ are disposed to turn aside with disdain from 
one who dwells on what they will regard as a trifling question. 
For there are many who have unthinkingly taken for granted 
as self-evident a theory of idea, which they suppose them- 
selves to understand; though it is, in truth, I am convinced, 
quite unintelligible, and tends to throw an indistinctness and 
confusion over most subjects. And hence they are almost un- 
aware of one important function of language as an instrument 
of thought^ imagining its sole use to be the conveying of our 
thoughts to others.-^ 

From various causes, therefore, whatever censure or contempt 
the advocates of either party in a dispute may be exposed to 
from the opposite party, the peacemaker is likely to incur from 
all.2 

It is true the most calm and considerate will at once, and 
many others after a time, be disposed to do justice to the mo- 
tives of one who seeks to mediate, and to listen to his reasons. 
But no one is less likely to gain present popularity than one 
who aims at convincing the parties engaged in a contest that they 
are in reality less opposed than they appear to be. Those, how- 
ever, who are seeking the approbation, not of men but of their 
Divine Master, will remember the blessing he has pronounced 
on " the peacemakers." And though they would not sacrifice 
gospel truth for the sake of church concord, they will be ready 
to sacrifice for it anything and everything else. 

1 See Elements of Logic : Introduction. 

2 See Note A, at the end of this Essay. 



INFANT-BAPTISM. 



321 



§ III. But though some are liable to be engaged, in refer- 
ence to these points, in a controversy chiefly verbal, there are 
others, as I have above hinted, between whom 

Real difference 

an apparently similar controversy will be found between those who 

do and do not 

to turn on a real opposition ot doctrine. hold the predesti- 

Those who hold that ( 1 ) of persons duly ad- doctrme. 
mitted into the visible church by baptism some are, by an abso- 
lute eternal divine decree, secured in all the benefits of Christ's 
redemption, and others totally excluded therefrom by the same 
decree,^ and moreover (2) this is a truth set forth in Scripture 
as an essential point of faith,^ — these, and the parties opposed 
to them, must, of course, differ, not in words only, but in the 
matter of their teaching. 

Taking regeneration to imply, as is generally agreed, some 
kind and degree of benefit, — some spiritual gift, or at least 
offer of a gift, — they of course deny the term " regenerate " 
to be at all applicable to those Christians whom they consider 
as excluded by the decree of Omnipotence from all spiritual 
benefit whatever of baptism. And the visible church, into 
which members are through this rite admitted, they must re- 
gard as a community not possessing any spiritual endowments 
whatever ; these being, by divine decree, reserved for certain 
individuals arbitrarily selected from the rest. 

Of those who maintain — or at least in their teaching imply 
— the predestinarian views now alluded to, a considerable por- 
tion belong to the sect which altogether rejects infant-baptism.^ 
And in this I cannot but admit that they are perfectly consistent.* 
Regarding the rite of baptism as " an outward and visible sign 
of an inward spiritual grace," they deem it not allowable, I 

1 See Note A, at the end of Essay III. ; and Note A, at the end of Essay lY. 

2 These two perfectly distinct assertions are often confounded together. 

3 See Note B, at the end. 

4 See Archbishop Sumner's Apostolical Preaching, from which I have sub- 
joined an extract in a Note at the end of this Essay. 



322 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



apprehend, to " put asunder what God has joined together," 
and therefore confine the administration of this sign to those 
respecting whom there is some presumption at least of their 
being admitted to a participation in the thing signified^ — 
the divine grace ; which grace, they hold, is, by an eternal 
absolute decree, bestowed on one portion of those professing 
Christianity, and denied to the rest. And to which of the two 
classes any individual infant belongs, there cannot possibly be 
any ground for even the slightest conjecture. 

In the case of an adult they can have, it is supposed (just 
as in the case of the other sacrament, the Lord's Supper), if 
not a complete and certain knowledge whether he belongs to 
the class of the elect or the non-elect, at least some indica- 
tion from his professions and his conduct, — indications which 
an infant, of course, cannot affi)rd. And they accordingly 
consider, I apprehend, that baptism administered to infants 
connot be a sign of regeneration, since there cannot be even 
any presumption of its being accompanied by any spiritual 
advantage at all. 

And certainly it must be admitted that, according at least 
to the ordinary use of language, a sign of anything is under- 
stood to be such from its being regularly accompanied by that 
thing of which it is a sign, or at least by some reasonable 
presumption of its presence. When, for instance, we speak 
of a certain dress or bado^e beinor a sim of a man's belons-in^r 
to a certain regiment, or order of knighthood, or the like, we 
understand that it is to be something peculiarly belonging to 
them, and serving to distinguish them from others. If a dress 
or badge were worn indifferently by an indefinite number of 
persons, some belonging to this regiment or order and some 
not, we should consider that it had ceased to be a sign at all, 
having no longer any signification. It is on these grounds, I 
conceive, that many of those who hold that doctrine of absolute 



ON INFxVNT-B^VPTISM. 



323 



decrees I have been alluding to, adhere to, or have joined, the 
communion of those calling themselves, and commonly called, 
Baptists.^ 

Our safest and most liumbly pious course, however, is, in 
any practical question, to endeavor to ascertain, in the first 
instance, what was the practice of the apostles ; and to adhere 
to that whenever we think that the rules or customs they sanc- 
tioned were not of a merely local or temporary character, but 
were equally suited to our ovm age and country. And not 
only is respect due to their practices, but these practices will 
often throw light on their doctrine; since whatever belief, on 
any point, seems naturally to be implied in wdiat they w^ere 
accustomed to do, may be presumed to have been their belief. 
And we ought surely rather to put ourselves under their teach- 
ing, where it is to be had, than to adopt and act upon the 
inferences drawai from any theological theory of our own. 

§ IV. Now with respect to the question of infant-baptism, 
though there is not in Scripture any express in- inquiry into 
1 unction or prohibition relatinp^ to it, any one the practice of the 

*^ o ^ pviinitive church 

Tvho inquires with an unbiassed mind may arrive, with respect to bap- 
tism. 

I think, at a complete moral certainty as to what 

was the practice of the apostles and other primitive Christians.^ 

1 See Note C, at the end of this Essay. 

2 On this point a novel and very strange theory — combining the premises of 
one party with the conclusion of the opposite — has been devised in Germany, 
and has been I believe adopted by some few in our own country; namely, that 
the apostles never practised or approved infant-baptism, but that nevertheless 
we, the Christians of the present day, are quite right in departing from the apos- 
tolic principle and institution, and administering the rite to infants. Though 
we do not — like the Romish Church — claim infallibility, and profess to be under 
the guidance of Christ's vicegerent on earth, who is authorized to develop " 
new doctrines, and to change divine institutions (as in denying the cup to the 
laity), still we are at liberty, it seems, to act as if we did possess this infallible 
authority, and to improve upon the principles and practice of the apostles at our 
own discretion. 



324 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



For several years, we should remember, they were all Jews. 
And even after the Gentiles had began to be engrafted into the 
church, the gospel was still, in each place, preached first in the 
Jewish synagogue ; and the greatest part of the most eminent 
teachers were of that nation. 

Now, men brought up under the law, would, of course, ad- 
here to the principles of that law, wherever these were not 
at variance with Christianity, and would be disposed to view 
everything in the gospel according to the analogy of Judaism, 
except when taught otherwise. And their inspired instructors 
did teach them otherwise when there was need. Whenever 
this disposition was carried to a faulty excess, — as in the well- 
known instance (Acts xv.) of the attempt to place Gentile 
Christians under the Levitical law, — the error was, we may 
be sure, as in that instance, promptly corrected, and firmly 
resisted by the apostles. 

Now baptism, having always been clearly understood to be 
the initiatory rite by which members were admitted into the 
Christian church,^ it cannot, I think, be doubted, by any un- 

I shall not undertake to refute this theory, because I cannot but think that 
any one who can, on calm reflection, adopt it, must be beyond the reach of 
argument. 

To the Germans we owe many important investigations, and many valuable 
thoughts. But it cannot be denied that a large portion of them have shown a 
tendency to be carried away by a craving for originality, and to be misled by 
their own ingenuity in its pursuit. It was a proverb among the ancient Romans 
that "Africa was always producing some new monster." And something anal- 
ogous may be said of Germany. 

One way of producing (ideal) monsters, from common materials, is by com- 
bining incongruous parts of things really existing. Such was the fabled Chi- 
maera, which was made up of parts of common and well-known animals, joined 
together as they never were or could be. Such were the Centaurs, and the sup- 
posed picture described by Horace in his Art of Poetry. And a perfectly orig- 
inal theory may be in like manner framed (to which the title of "Chimsera" 
would not be inapplicable) out of opinions in common circulation, by putting 
together the conclusions of the one side and the reasons of the other. 

1 Agreeably to our Lord's charge to his apostles (Matthew xxviii.) the exact 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



325 



prejudiced inquirer, that the early Christians must have been 
prepared to observe the like rules in admitting (by baptism) 
members into the Christian church, to those they had been 
accustomed to, in reference to the Jewish. If it had been the 
rule to admit adults only into the Mosaic covenant — if infancy 
had been a bar to any one's reception — then they would never 
have thought of baptizing children into the Christian church, 
unless expressly commanded to do so. If — as is the fact — they 
had been accustomed to enrol in the Jewish church their own 
infants, and proselytes of all ages, then they would, as a matter 
of course, adhere to the same rule in reference to the Chris- 
tian church, unless expressly forhidden} And so strong and 
universal must have been the disposition to bring to baptism 
the children of believers, that if this had not been allowable, 
we should undoubtedly have found in the New Testament most 
distinct and frequent notices of its prohibition. As for distinct 
injunctions or recommendations, these could not have been at 
all needed in favor of any practice about which there had never 
been any hesitation. 

And as for the many scruples and questions that have been 
raised relative to infant-baptism, none of these would be likely 
even to occur to their minds ; because they had been familiar 
all their lives with the admission into the Mosaic covenant of 
infants, incapable, at the time, of availing themselves of, or at 
all understanding, the benefits of that covenant. 

rendering of which is '-make disciples of all nations" (that is, enrol them as 
members of the church) " by baptizing them into the name," etc. 

The marginal rendering of ixa^rjTevaaTe in our Bible is preferable to that in 
the text. 

See also Acts viii. 36 and x. 47. 

1 " There is a presumption in favor of every existing institution. Many of 
these (we will suppose the majority) may be susceptible of alteration for the 
better; but still, the ' burden of proof ' lies with him who proposes an alteration, 
simply on the ground that since a change is not a good in itself, he who demands 
a change should show cause for iV^ — Uelments of Bhetoric 

28 



326 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



§ V. We have therefore, I conceive, a complete moral cer- 
, . ^ tainty that the earliest Christians did practise 

The gospel viewed ^ 

by the earliest infant-baptism, and that it received at least the 

Christians through 

the medium of the tacit sanction aiid approval of the apostles ; 

law. 

whose prohibitions of it we should not have 
failed to find recorded, had it been at all objectionable. 

But in this, and in several other points also, difficulties, and 
sometimes serious mistakes, are likely to arise from want of 
sufficient care to view the gospel through the medium of the 
law ; — to recollect, that is, not only that the Mosaic dispen- 
sation itself was the forerunner and type of the Christian, which 
fulfilled and extended it, but also that Christianity was first 
preached hy^ and to^ men who had been brought up Jews ; and 
that accordingly we must carefully consider, and steadily keep 
in mind, what were the habits and modes of thought of Jews 
of that age and country, and in what way they would be likely 
to understand and to act upon the precepts and doctrines deliv- 
ered to them; for the interpretations which were the most 
obvious to them will be often different from what may be the 
most obvious to us of the present day. And again, it will often 
happen that what were to them the greatest difficulties (as, for 
instance, the admission of the Gentiles to be " fellow-heirs ") 
will be to us no difficulties at all. And whatever meaning 
presented itself to their minds, may be presumed to be the right 
one, w^henever they were not taught otherwise by their inspired 
guides the apostles, who were at hand to correct any mistakes 
they might fall into. 

Thus, for instance, if we would inquire what we are to un- 
derstand by " saints " — " God's people " — and " the elect 
("chosen"), etc., our safest course (as was remarked in Essay 
III.) is to look to the sense in which an Israelite had been 
accustomed to hear those words employed, and to consider how 



OJ^ INFANT-BAPTISM. 



327 



he would be likely to understand them, by analogy, in reference 
to the gospel dispensation.^ 

And so, also, if we would understand what was meant by the 
" baptizing of a household " which we read of in the New Tes- 
tament, — whether it included, or not, the infant children of the 
believing parents, — our guide should be the practice of the 
Israelites in reference to any Gentile family, the heads of which 
had renounced idolatry and desired to be admitted as proselytes 
— as Israelites by adoption — into the number of God's chosen 
people under the old dispensation. "Let all his males be 
circumcised, and then let him draw near and eat the pass- 
over," was the direction of the law under which they acted. 

And if an intelligent and well-disposed Israelite had been 
asked what benefit he contemplated as accruing from enrolment 
in the number of God's people to an infant, incapable of either 
obeying or disobeying the law, and of enjoying or understand- 
ing the promised blessings of the covenant, he would probably 
have replied, that the child — being dedicated to the Lord by 
Jewish parents or guardians, solemnly bound to instruct and 
bring him up as a Jew — might be expected, as soon as he should 
be able and as far as he should be able to understand these 
things, to become, gradually, an observer of the law and a 
partaker of its benefits ; and that, then, he would not obtain a 
new possession of something which, before, was not his, but 
would merely enter on the full enjoyment of a benefit previ- 
ously conferred on him. 

The case, in short, would be viewed as analogous to some 
which occur every day in the ordinary business of life. In the 
common language, for instance, of secular business, a person is 
said to have received, as a payment or as a gift, such and 
such a sum of money, even when no money is actually handed 
to him, but only a draft on some banker, who is ready to pay 

1 See Sermon on Christian Saints. 



328 WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 

it as soon as presented. And we speak of him as having re- 
ceived this sum, although we know that he maj possibly not 
present the draft for several days or weeks; or may even, 
through gross negligence, fail ever to present it at all. Or, 
again, take the case of an infant inheriting an estate, or a title, 
or the "freedom'* of some corporation. Though not capable, 
at the time, of profiting by or understanding these advantages, 
he will subsequently become so ; and will then, if he use them 
aright, not acquire any new possession, but derive the suitable 
advantages from those to which he was already entitled. And 
even as the inheritor of a fortune may, when he grows up, 
make either a good or ill use of his wealth, so, any one, whether 
the child of an Israelite by birth, or of a proselyte admitted into 
the Jewish chui^ch, might, in after life, either avail himself 
rightly of the privileges thus bestowed on him, or convert them 
into a curse by his neglect or abuse of them. 

And supposing this latter case, — supposing the son of some 
devout proselyte to have become an idolater, or in some other 
way a transgressor of the law, — he would, no doubt, have been 
admonished (by a prophet, or other pious Jew) not to become 
an Israelite, — not to seek admission into the number of God's 
chosen people, — but to repent and return to the Lord, to re- 
form his life, and to walk worthy of the privileges to which he 
had been admitted. 

Now all this an intelligent and pious Jew, who should have 
embraced the gospel, would naturally be inclined to apply, by 
analogy, to the case of the Christian dispensation. 



§ VI. And accordingly one of the most eminent of these, 
Paul's view of the the Apostlc Paul himsclf, directs the attention 
T^'dLJi^TZ converts to such an analogy: applying the 

dispensations. ^^^^ "baptized"' to the Israelites on their 
deliverance from Egypt ; whom he speaks of as being all 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



829 



" chosen " to be partakers of special divine favors ; while yet 
— as lie reminds the Corinthians (1 Cor. x.) — most^ of those 
very men " were overthrown in the wilderness ; " not accord- 
ing to any eternal divine decree (at least he mentions none) 
excluding them from the promised blessings, but as a con- 
sequence of their obstinate rebellions. It was because " they 
thought scorn of that pleasant land, and gave no credence unto 
his word, " that the Lord sware unto them that they should 
not enter into his rest." And all " these things," Paul tells the 
Corinthians, " are written for the admonition " of Christians. 

It is thus that (as I have remarked above) we may plainly 
learn from the practice of the early church what were the 
doctrines taught in it. Having ascertained what the early 
Christians were accustomed, under the guidance of the apostles, 
to do in reference to the administration of baptism, we may 
thence safely infer what was their belief on the subject. 

And here it is to be remarked, by the way, that I have 
been representing a pious and intelligent Israelite as speaking, 
all along, of the case of children brought forward for dedication 
to the Lord, hy parents or guardians designing to educate them 
accordingly. He would surely never imagine that any one could 
have a right, or a power, to admit into the Mosaic covenant a 
Gentile infant who was to be brought up as a heathen. And, 
by parity of reasoning, he would not, as a Christian, regard as 
of any avail, or as a valid baptism at all, the performance of 
an outward ceremony on an infant that is to be brought up — 
as far as we know and believe — in entire ignorance of Christian 
duties and privileges. No one would be regarded as sowing 
seed to any purpose, or indeed as, in correct language, sowing 
it at all, who should purposely scatter corn on the trodden 
wayside, w^ith a full knowledge that it would be immediately 
" devoured by the fowls of the air," instead of springing up, 

28* 



330 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



and producing, " first the blade, then the ear, and afterwards 
the full corn in the ear." 

I mention this because there are instances recorded, of 
priests administering hy stealth (through mistaken pious char- 
ity) what they regard as the rite of Christian baptism to the 
infants of savages, or of Chinese or Hindu idolaters.^ But in 
our church it is plain no such procedure is recognized. Our 
formularies all along most plainly contemplate the case of a 
child brought to baptism by persons pledging themselves to its 
education as a Christian. In the narrative so earnestly dwelt 
on in the baptismal service, the children brought to our Lord 
for his blessing must evidently have been the children of believ- 
ing parents.^ And all the declarations made in our formularies 
— the hopes expressed, the prayers, the exhortations, in short, 
everything that is said — must evidently be understood as 
proceeding on this supposition. 

And accordingly the very reason assigned in the catechism 
for its being allowable to administer baptism to infants, is, that 
as there are certain indispensable conditions of the benefits 

1 The question has been raised, What should be our procedure in reference to a 
person to whom an intended baptism had been thus rashly administered, suppos- 
ing him (as is not at all inconceivable) to come, mhsequerdly ^ to a knowledge of the 
gospel : are we, it has been asked, to repeat in such a case, the external ceremony ? 

The question, in any such case, evidently amounts to this : whether he has been 
really baptized or not? For it has always been universally held that baptism is 
a rite which cannot be repeated; since no one can be admitted a member of a 
society of which he is a member already. 

In every case, therefore, in which there is a douht as to the answer to that ques- 
tion, our church has provided a conditional form expressly to meet such a case. 
(See Rubric to the Office for Private Baptism.) 

As for the question, Who are the persons to whom the office is, or should be 
intrusted, of administering the rite of baptism? On this I have made, in the 
Second Essay on the Kingdom of Christ, some remarks which are extracted in 
Note D at the end of this Essay. 

2 See Luke xviii. 15. The right rendering of ra Pp^tprj evidently is, in this 
passage, " their infants." The article (which our translators are apt to overlook 
altogether) has often the sense of our possessive pronoun. So it has also in 
French. have a pain in my head,'" would be rendered " j'ai mal k la tete." 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



331 



promised to them, so the fulfihaeiit of these conditions is prom- 
ised hy them, through their sureties.^ 

And for the " remission of sins " at baptism,^ so frequently 
alluded to in our services, this, it is plain, cannot be understood 
of actual sins in the case of an infant^ which is not a moral 
agent at all, nor capable of either transgressing or obeying 
God's laws, — of resisting, or of following the suggestions of 
his Spirit. Nor, again, can it mean an entire removal and 
abolition of the frail and sinful nature, — the phronema sarhos'^ 
inherited by every descendant of Adam ; since our 9th Article 
expressly declares that this " remaineth even in those that are 
regenerate." ^ But it seems to denote that those duly baptized 
are considered no longer as children of the condemned and 
disinherited Adam, — as no longer aliens from God,^ disquali- 
fied for his service, and excluded from the offers of the gospel, — 
but are received into the number of God's adopted children, 
and have thrown open to them, as it were, the treasury of 
divine grace, through which, if they only avail themselves of 
it, though not otherwise, they v/ili attain final salvation.^ 

1 See Note E at the end. 

2 The words, in the Xicene Creed, " one baptism for the remission of sins," 
were eagerly appealed to by some, in a recent controversy, as quite decisive of 
the questions at issue. They seem to have not known, or to have forgotten, that 
those words were introduced in reference to a totally different question, — one 
relating to repetition of baptism. 

3 There certainly is, in some portions of the baptismal service, an indistinct- 
ness and confusedness of language (excellent as the service is, as a whole) which 
one would gladly see remedied. For we read, in the same service, of the "re- 
mission " to infants " of all their sins'^ and of an exhortation to " all men to 
follow their innocency Of the " imputation" of Adam's transgression, I have 
treated at large in Essay VI., subjoining an extract from Archbishop Sumner's 
Apostolical Preaching. 

4 This is doubtless what is meant by the expression " children of wrath," in 
the catechism, and " deserving God's wrath " in the 9th Article. The reformers 
could not have meant the words '* God's ivrath^^ to be understood in their 
literal sense ; since they had laid it down in the 1st Article that God is " without 
body, parts, or passions.''^ 

5 Those who seek to go as far as they can towards doing away all connection 



332 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



§ VII. This seems to be the most simple and unforced 
interpretation of the language of our church in 

Views of our re- 

formers concerning various passagcs of licr formularics ; as, for in- 

baptism. . 

stance, m the catechism, where the catechumen 

speaks of " baptism, wherein I was made a child of God 

and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven ; " and again, where 

it is said that " being by nature born in sin we are hereby 

made the children of grace." 

Now, this placing of a person in a different condition from 
that in wdiich he was originally born, may not unaptly be 
designated (as it appears to be by our reformers) by the term 
" regeneration," or " new birth." ^ 

But no one can suppose that they regarded the sowing of 
seed as the same thing with the full maturity of the corn for 
harvest, or as necessarily implying it. To be born into the 
natural world, is not the same thing as to be grown up ; nor 
can it be pronounced of every infant that is born that it will, 
necessarily, grow up to manly maturity. So, also, our reform- 
ers never meant to teach that every one who is baptized is sure 
of salvation independently of his " leading the rest of his life 
according to this beginning" (Baptismal Service); or, again, 

of spiritual benefit with baptism, and reducing it to a mere sign of admission 
into 2i community possessing no spiritual endowments at all, sometimes appeal to 
the case of Cornelius and his friends, on whom "the Holy Ghost fell" before 
they were baptized. But they seem to forget that this was the miraculous gift 
of tongues^ of prophecy, etc., which never was, nor was ever supposed to be, the 
"inward spiritual grace" of baptism. It was never conferred at baptism (see 
Acts viii. 16), but was always bestowed, except in this one case (in which there 
was an obvious reason for the exception), through the laying on of hands of an 
apostle (see Acts xix. 6). And accordingly the Romans, when Paul wrote to 
them (Rom. i. 11), had received no miraculous gifts, though they were baptized 
Christians, and were reminded by the apostle that "if any man have not the 
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." 

1 The Ninth Article has, in the original Latin, the word, " renati," twice; 
translated, first, "regenerate," and afterwards, " baptized." See Note F at the 
end. 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



333 



that we can be infallibly sure that he will do so ; any more 
than we can pronounce with certainty, according to the analogy 
of a temporal inheritance above alluded to, that one who has 
an estate bequeathed to him will claim his inheritance in proper 
form, and will also make that right use of his wealth on which 
depends its becoming a real blessing to him. 

The expression "an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven" 
seems to be used in reference to the tendency, and the suitable 
result, of an admission into the church of Christ. And such a 
kind of language is often employed by all writers, and, not least, 
by the apostles. When, for instance, the Apostle John says 
that "whatsoever is born of God, overcometh the world, and 
that every one who is born of God doth not commit sin," it 
cannot be supposed that he meant to attribute to Christians 
moral perfection and impeccahility when, on the contrary, he 
exhorts them to " confess their sins." Far was it from his design 
to teach that one who did but feel convinced of having experi- 
enced the new birth might safely remit his exertions and relax 
his vigilance against sin, and " count himself to have appre- 
hended" and to be thenceforward sure of divine acceptance 
and of everlasting life, without " taking heed lest he fall." On 
the contrary, he was writing, as is well known, in opposition 
to those Gnostics of his day who were grossly Antinomian, and 
who, while they professed to " have no sin " in God's sight, 
and to be sure of salvation through their supposed " knowing 
the gospel" (gnosis), lived a life of flagrant immorality. 

In contradiction to these monstrous tenets, he declares that 
every one who has a well-grounded " hope in Christ purifieth 
himself, even as He is pure," — that a sinful life is inconsistent 
with the character of the " sons of God," — that the tendency, 
in short, and suitable result of being " born of God," is opposed 
to the commission of sin. 

And, indeed, in all subjects, it is a very common mode of 



334 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



speaking to attribute to any person or thing some quality, 
which, though not an invariable, is a sititahle, or natural attri- 
bute, and may reasonably be looked for therein. 

In this way many words have come to vary gradually from 
their original signification. For instance, to " cure," in its 
etymological sense (from " curare ") signifies to take care of a 
patient, and to administer medicines. In its present use, it 
implies the successful administration. 

So also it is with the word ^epaTrevo), which, in the language 
of the New Testament writers, signifies not to tend, but to heal. 

In like manner v/e often, figuratively, deny some title to an 
object that is wanting in those qualities which ought to belong 
to it, or which that title suggests as a natural and consistent 
accompaniment, and what may fairly be expected. Thus, for 
instance, in speaking of some act of excessive baseness or de- 
pravity, it is not uncommon to say, " one who would be guilty 
of this, is not a man ; " meaning, of course, that such conduct is 
unworthy of the manly character, — inconsistent with what 
may be fairly expected from a man^ as such, and more suitable 
to the brutish nature.-^ But so far are we from understanding 
that any one who acts thus unworthily is not, strictly and 
literally, a man, that, on the contrary, this is the very ground 
of our censure. We condemn a man who acts the part of a 
brute, precisely because he is a man — a being from whom 
something better might have been looked for — and not one of 
the brute creation. 

Again, any one might say of a garden that was greatly 
neglected, and overrun with wild plants, "this is not a gar- 
den/^ or "it does not deserve the name of a garden;" though 

1 " I dare do all that may become a man ; 

Who dares do more, is noneP 

•—Macbeth. 

Some remarks on this kind of language, in reference to another subject, will 
be found in the treatise on Rhetoric, Part III. chapter iii. § 3. 



0^ INFANT-BAPTISM. 



335 



it is precisely because it is, literally, a garden, that we speak 
thus contemptuously of it ; since, in an uncultivated spot, the 
sight of a luxuriant vegetation does not offend the eye. 

It is in a similar mode of speaking that Paul declares that 
"he is not a Jew w-ho is one outwardly: neither is that cir- 
cumcision which is outward in the flesh ; but he is a Jew who 
is one inwardly ; and circumcision is of the heart," ^ etc., — 
meaning, as no doubt every one must have understood him, that 
one who is not in his heart and in his conduct a servant of the 
Lord, is wanting in what oicght to characterize the Lord's 
people, — is inconsistent wdth his profession, and an univorthy 
member of the Jewish church; — one who will derive no benefit, 
but the contrary, from the privileges to which he has been 
admitted as a Jew. For it is because such a one is literally a 
Jew, that he will incur a heavier penalty than an unenlightened 
heathen. 

He might equally well have said, — and doubtless would 
have been ready to say, — according to the same kind of figure, 
that he is not a "baptized" Christian — he is not "regenerate" 
— who is so outwardly alone, and has nothing of the Christian 
character within. And indeed the Apostle Peter actually does 
employ similar language in speaking of baptism (which, he 
says, " saveth us ") when he says that it is " not the putting 
away the filth of the flesh " (that is, the outward application of 
water), "but the answer of a good conscience towards God ;" 
not meaning that a person deficient in this has not been, Kterally, 
and in the strict and proper sense of the word, baptized at all, 
and needs to have that rite administered to him, but that he 
is wanting in that which is the proper and beneficial result of 
an admission into the Christian church. 

And corresponding forms of expression are very common 
on various subjects; and seldom give rise to any error, or 

1 Kom. ii. 28. 



335 



WHAXrXY'S ESSAYS. 



Importance of 
using various ex- 



coiifusion of thought, or obscurity, except in those cases (re- 
ligious discussions are among the principal) in which men, 
under the influence of some strong prejudice, exercise their in- 
genuity in seeking for anything that may serve as an argument, 
and in interpreting words according to the letter and against 
the spirit, for the sake of supporting some favorite theory. 

§ VIII. Once more, then, I would invite attention to the 
importance of examining carefully, in any con- 
troversy that may arise, how far it may turn on 
thrs3etruth!^^^ differences in the expressions employed. Let 
any two persons, whose views appear at the 
first glance widely at variance, be prevailed on to depart, for a 
time at least, from the strict technical language of a theolog- 
ical school, and to state, in as many different forms as possible^ 
what is the practical advice they would give to each Christian 
under various circumstances ; and it will often come out, that 
one whom his neighbor had perhaps been at first disposed to 
condemn as abandoning some fundamental truths of Christianity, 
has, in fact, merely avoided the particular terms in which the 
other has been accustomed to express them ; and the difference 
between the parties is not such, either in degree or in kind, as 
had been supposed.^ 

In guarding, however, against verbal controversies mistaken 
for real^ I would not be understood as thinking little of the 

1 At the time when the first outcry was raised against Dr. Hampden's Bamp- 
ton Lectures, many persons, no doubt, who joined in it, had no design to com- 
mit injustice, but had been taught to think that the work was really unsound. 
He had traced to the school-men many of the phrases which are commonly 
employed in expressing certain doctrines; and hence it was rashly inferred that 
he intended to represent the doctrines themselves as of human origin. The 
inference was drawn by those (the great majority of his censurers) who had 
never read the work itself, but only artfully-garbled extracts. — See The Church 
and the Universities. 

2 See Logic, *' Verbal Questions." 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



337 



importance of careful accuracy of language. Indeed, the very 
circumstance tliat inattention to this may lead to serious mis- 
takes as to our meaning, would alone be sufficient to show how- 
needful it is to be careful as to our mode of expression. 

For instance, cases have come under my own knowledge, 
in which an active minister, sincerely attached to our church, 
has found, to his astonishment and mortification, that his people 
were, one by one, dropping oiF into the sect of the Baptists ; 
and that these seceders were almost exclusively the very per- 
sons who had been the most attentive to his instructions, and 
the most promising. This circumstance induced me, when 
consulted on such a case, to inquire carefully as to the language 
which he had employed in speaking of baptism and points 
connected therewith. And I found, and pointed out to the 
complainant, that he had been, in fact, undesignedly preparing 
the way for these conversions, by using such expressions as 
were likely to be understood, and actually had been understood, 
in a sense favoring the Baptist doctrine ; so that his most atten- 
tive hearers, whenever they came in the way of a teacher of 
that persuasion, were induced to adopt at once the inferences 
from the premises already established in their minds. 

However charitably we may judge of the members of that 
or of any other communion, it is clearly the duty of members 
of a church which does allow infant-baptism to guard against 
being so understood as to encourage secession from that church. 

And here it may be remarked, that the clergy have an espe- 
cial opportunity, and an especial call, for giving early, and 
full, and systematic instruction on all the points here touched 
on, in their discharge of that most important branch of their 
duty, the preparing of children for the solemn ordinance of 
CONFIRMATION. The coursc of that preparation affords them 
a most fitting occasion for explaining to them the character of 

29 



338 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



the sacraments according to the views of our cliurcli ; v/hich 
evidently designs to make confirmation, not a distinct sacra- 
ment, but a connecting link between the two, — a kind of sup- 
plement and completion to the one, and an introduction to the 
other.^ And this sacred rite has the advantage, when duly 
administered to persons properly prepared, of obviating every 
reasonable objection to the practice of infant-baptism, and thus 
justifying, and exhibiting as an harmonious whole, the system 
of church ordinances established by our reformers. 

§ IX. The importance of taking care not to exaggerate 
differences, or hastily to form harsh judgments, 

Ti Tii •! , • Effects produced 

1 have dwelt on with especial earnestness, m by unchristian bit- 
treating of the present subject, on account of the ^'j;"^,'' 
contests relative to that subject which have of 
late years been agitating our church.^ These contests have 
been conducted by some, unhappily, of those engaged on each 
side, with not a little of unchristian acrimony. And the tone 
of insolence and of bitterness displayed by some of the dispu- 
tants, which has been strongly and justly censured by some of 
their opponents, has been imitated by those opponents. They 

1 It was with a view to impress this the more strongly on the minds of all parties 
concerned, that I adopted in my own diocese the plan of adding on the com- 
munion service to that of confirmation, and receiving no candidates for confirm- 
ation but such as were prepared to attend the Lord's Table immediately. The 
error was thus the more effectually guarded against (an error which I well knew 
to be prevalent), of bringing forward for confirmation persons unfit or unwilling 
to partake of the eucharist; and who, too often, never do partake of it at all. 

That this is quite at variance with the design of our church, I took occasion to 
set forth in a Tract on Confirmation, from which I have subjoined an extract in 
Note G at the end of this Essay. 

The experience of many years, during which this course has bejen blessed with 
the happiest results, and the strong testimony of the most assiduous and judi- 
cious of the clergy, have fully confirmed my original conviction of its expedi- 
ency. 

2 For some remarks on the particular contest chiefly alluded to, see Note H 
at the end of this Essay. 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



339 



have been guilty to at least an equal degree of the very faults 
they had been condemning. 

Such contests have excited the exulting scorn, not only of 
infidels, but of those Christians of various denominations whose 
zeal for their sect or church outweighs their regard for the 
universal church of Christ, and in whom party spirit has nearly 
swallowed up the true spirit of the gospel. 

Among others, we find the members of a church which 
professes to be, not a branch, but the whole, of the catholic — 
that is, universal — church (and which, if so, must compre- 
hend all Christians, of whatever denomination) taunting other 
churches — parts of itself, supposing its pretentions just — with 
their internal dissensions, and representing its own (alleged) 
exemption from discord and unity of doctrine as a mark of 
divine truth.^ 

But however justly we may censure such exultation, great 
must be the grief, at the occasion given for it, that must be felt 
by those of the most truly Christian character. Greatly must 
such a man, whether of our own communion or of any other, 
be shocked at the spectacle of dissensions among professing 
Christians, and of the evil passions which are too often called 
forth and displayed on such occasions. 

I have said " called forth and displayed" because one cannot 
but feel convinced on reflection — and it is one of the most 
painful reflections suggested by the circumstances attendant on 
controversies — that the evil dispositions thus called into action 

1 Most of those to whom such reasoning is addressed will not know, or will 
not recollect, that this mark belonged most emphatically to pagan Eome under 
the persecuting emperors, and to Nebuchadnezzar when he set up his " image 
of gold." For, these decreed, and promptly executed their decrees as far as 
their power extended, that whosoever refused to worship as commanded, should 
be cast into the fire. 

On the incompatibility of the two claims,— that to universality, and that to 
exemption from divisionsand errors, — I have treated formerly, in works from 
which extracts are given in Note I at the end of this Essay. 



340 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



must have existed before, in persons in wliom perhaps thej had 
never been suspected. 

Uncharitable bigotry, unscrupulous and reckless party spirit, 
spiritual pride, revengefulness, malice, and the like, are not 
dispositions which could be suddenly created^ though they may 
be suddenly aroused and called into activity, and also fostered 
and increased, by the excitement of a contest. They must 
have been in existence already, — unknown, probably, to the 
persons themselves, as well as to the bystanders, — under an 
appearance of Christian meekness and candor and charity. 

Where a pool of transparent water, and which seemingly 
contains no impurity, becomes, on being agitated^ suddenly 
turbid and foul, we are certain that the offensive impurities 
thus thrown up are not called into existence by that agitation 
but must have been lying at the hottom during the period of 
tranquillity and apparent purity. 

And even so we are compelled to admit the mortifying 
conclusion that the faults and follies which we see stirred up 
by an agitating contest, must have been all along latent in the 
breast of many a one who had been regarded by others, and 
probably by himself, as of a far different character. 

What any one's conduct would be, under each particular 
kind of trial, none but the Searcher of hearts can know with 
complete certainty before the trial is actually made. It is for 
us, especially to examine and distrust ourselves, to keep a 
vigilant guard over our own hearts, and to act on the apos- 
tolic precept, " Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed 
lest he fall." 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



841 



NOTES TO ESSAY XL 



Note A — Page 320. 

This severity is so far from being mitigated in cases where religion 
is concerned, that, on the contrary, the phrase " odium theologicum " 
has become proverbial. I cannot but wonder, therefore, that in a 
very able article in the Edinburgh Review (April, 1850) theological 
literature should be spoken of as ''a protected literature." Indeed, 
the reviewer himself seems, in what he had said just above (p. 526) 
to establish the opposite conclusion. Some remarks on this point, 
introduced into a recent edition of a volume of Essays (First Series) 
I here subjoin : 

" The case of Bishop Warburton, however, is only one out of 
many that could be adduced in disproof of what has been said as to 
'theological literature being a protected literature.' The fear of 
odium may indeed sometimes deter a man from writing against the 
prevailing religion ; but if any one in writing for it calculates on 
exemption from attacks, he is not unlikely to be greatly disappointed. 
If he write in defence of the tenets of his own communion, he may 
perhaps be assailed (supposing his work to attract any considerable 
notice), not only by the members of other communions, but by very 
many fellow-members of his own ; who will perhaps charge him with 
' paradox,' or ' heresy ; ' or with going too far, or not far enough ; 
or with having advanced, or not having advanced, beyond his own 
original principles ; or perhaps with all of these faults at once.^ Or 
if, again, he writes in defence of Christianity generally, he will prob- 
ably be censured by a greater number of Christians, of various 
denominations, than of anti-christians. In the extracts from several 
writers (to which many others might have been added), printed in 
parallel columns at the end of the Appendix to the Logic, a specimen 

1 " That all these complaints have been made not only of the same individuals 
but by members of the same religious party, may seem something almost incred- 
ible J but it is a fact. 

29* 



342 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



may be seen of the sort of ' protection ' likely to be enjoyed by a 
work on Christian Evidence. Some wlio are sincere believers, if 
not in the truth of Christianity, at least in its utility to the mass of 
the people, are afraid that these would be shaken in their belief by 
inquiry and reflection.^ Others, again, being anxious that the people 
should believe not only in the divine origin of Christianity, but in 
several other things besides, of which no satisfactory proof can be 
afforded, are fearful of giving any one the habit of seeking and find- 
ing good grounds for one portion of his faith, lest he should require 
equally valid reasons for believing the rest, and should reject what 
cannot be so proved ; and, accordingly, they prefer that the whole 
should be taken on trust — on the strength of mere assertion. And 
enthusiasts, again, of all descriptions, being accustomed to believe 
whatever they do believe on the evidence of their own feelings and 
fancies alone, are most indignant against any one who — in com- 
pliance with the apostolic precept — endeavors to give, and to teach 
others to give, * a reason of the hope that is in them.' 

" On the whole, therefore, it does not appear that anything like 
' protection ' can be reckoned on, for works either on Christianity 
itself, or on any particular doctrines of it." 



Note B — Page 321. 

The proper designation of these is Antipaedobaptists. But this, 
though otherwise unexceptionable, is so awkwardly long a title, that 
it is not in common use. The title of " Baptists " and that of " Ana- 
baptists " are both alike objectionable, as being what J. Bentham 
calls "question-begging appellatives ; " the former implying that their 
distinctive tenet is right ; the other that it is an error. 

For, when an adult who had been baptized in infancy joins their 
communion, they administer to him the rite according to their own 
system. And to call this a " re-baptizing " (as is implied by the term 
Anabaptist) is to assume that his original baptism was real and valid; 

1 "A speaker in an illustrious assembly professed, according to the reporters, 
his firm adherence to the religion of the Established Church, as being ' the reli- 
gion of his ancestors.' And this sentiment was received with cheers; some of 
the hearers probably not recollecting that on that principle the worship of Thor 
and Woden would claim precedence. 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



343 



"which is the very point they deny. On the other hand, the term 
Baptist, as a distinguishing appellation, implies that iJiey alone really 
baptize, and that the so-called baptism of all others is void and un- 
real ; which is equally to prejudge the question on the other side. 

It should be added that those I have been alluding to are what are 
called " Particular-Baptists.'' There is another denomination (which, 
I miderstand, is much less numerous), called " General-Baptists," 
who do not teach the predestinarian doctrines alluded to. 

On the subject of terms of reproach," I have offered some re- 
marks in the Appendix to the Third Series of Essays. 

Any one who deprecates, as a reproachful term, or for any other 
reason, the application of some name to the church or class he be- 
longs to, should be careful to adopt for it some designation which 
does not imply a reproach to Ms neighhors ; else, though these may 
be in the wrong in the term they employ, lie at least has no right to 
complain. 

In reference to what I have said of the " Particular-Baptists," a 
writer in one of their periodicals vehemently and indignantly dis- 
claimed on their behalf the doctrine of reprobation. 

It was far from my intention to impute to any persons (not advo- 
cates of the system called economy," " double-doctrine," " or reserve ") 
opinions they disavow. But I had always understood that there is a 
portion (and much the largest portion) of the Baptist denomination 
that are commonly designated as Calvinistic, and account themselves 
such. And Calvin (see note A to Essay III., p. 98) not only incul- 
cates the doctrine of reprobation, but insists on its being inseparable 
from his doctrine of election, and derides as silly and puerile the 
attempt to disjoin them. 

Now the writer I have alluded to does not say whether those of 
his communion disclaim the title of Calvinist ; which has a manifest 
tendency to mislead, if applied to any one who rejects one funda- 
mental article of Calvin's system. Nor does he give any explanation 
of the sense in which he and his friends hold the doctrine of election, 
so as not to imply, necessarily, reprobation ; an explanation which 
is evidently requisite ; since, else, a man must certainly be regarded 
as ieacliing — whatever may be his own inward belief — anything 
that is clearly implied in what he does say. 

In reference to the subject here treated of, I take the liberty of 
extracting a passage from a work which has been for many years 
well known and highly esteemed by the public ; 



344 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



" Another practical evil of the doctrine of special grace, is the 
necessity which it implies of some test of God's favor, and of the 
reconcilement of Christians to him, beyond and subsequent to the 
covenant of baptism. St. Paul, it has been seen, insists upon the 
necessity of regeneration : he declares that ' the natural man receiv- 
eth not the things of God, neither can know them ; * he calls the hea- 
then nations ^children of wvaih^ and '-sinners of the Gentiles;^ he 
speaks of the * old man as heing corrupt according to the deceitful 
lusts ; ' — in short, he expresses, under a variety of terms,^ the asser- 
tion of our Saviour, that ^ except a man be born again, of water and 
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God ' (John iii. 3). 

" With equal clearness he intimates that the Christians he ad- 
dresses were thus regenerate : as having ^ j)ut off the old man with its 
deeds ; ' and having become the ' temple of the Holy Ghost* and * the 
members of Christ;* as having the ' spiritual circumcision, and being 
buried with Christ in baptism * Rom. vi. 3, Col. ii. 12; as having 
* received the spirit of adoption* Rom. viii. 15 ; and as ' being washed, 
sanctified, and justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the 
Spirit of our God.' To the Galatians, ' bewitched,' as he says they 
were, ' that they should not obey the truth,' he still writes, ' Ye are 
the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you 
as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, (ficA. iii. 2G). 
These addresses and exhortations are founded on the principle that 
the disciples, by their dedication to God in baptism, had been brought 
into a state of reconcilement v/ith him, — had been admitted to privi- 
leges which the apostle calls on them to improve. On the authority 
of this example, and of the undeniable practice of the first ages of 
Christianity, our church considers baptism as conveying regeneration, 
instructing us to pray, before baptism, that the infant ' may be born 
again, and made an heir of everlasting salvation ; ' and to return 
thanks, after baptism, ' that it hath pleased God to regenerate the 
infant with the Holy Spirit, and receive him for his own child by 
adoption.' 

" But, on the contrary, if there is a distinction between special and 
common grace, and none are regenerate but those who receive special 
grace, and those only receive it who are elect, baptism is evidently 
no sign of regeneration, since so many after baptism live profane and 
unholy lives, and perish in their sins. Therefore, the preacher of 



1 Rom. ii. 6, etc. 



ON SELF-DENIAL. 



345 



special grace must, consistently with his own principles, lead his 
hearers to look for some new conversion, and expect some sensible 
regeneration. This brings him to use lano^ua^e in the hijzhest de^^'ree 

O CD CO ~ O 

perplexing to an ordinary hearer. To take an example from the 
same writer, whose only fault is the inconsistency to which he is 
reduced by his attachment to the system of election : ' The best duties 
of unregenerate men are no better in God's account and acceptance, 
than abomination. There is nothing that such men do, in the whole 
course of their lives, but at the last day it will be found in God's 
register-book amonf^ the cataloc^ue of their sins. This man hath 
prayed so often, and heard so often, made so many prayers, and 
heard so many sermons, and done many good works ; but yet, all 
this while he was in an unconverted state : these, therefore, are set 
down ih God's day-book in black ; and they are registered among 
those sins that he must give an account for : not for the substance of 
the actions themselves, but because they come from rotten principles, 
that defile the best actions which he can perform.'^ 

" Suppose this language addressed now, as it was originally, to a 
congregation dedicated to Christ in baptism : what would be the 
feelings of a plain understanding, or a timid conscience, unable to 
unravel the windings of these secret things, on learning that the 
sinfulness or innocency of actions does not depend upon their being 
permitted or forbidden in the revealed law, but on the doer being 
in a regenerate or unregenerate state at the time when he performs 
them ? How is this fact of regeneracy, upon which no less than eter- 
nity depends, to be discovered ? The apostle enumerates the works 
of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit ; but his test is insufficient, 
for the two lists are here mixed and confounded. The hearers appeal 
to the church, an authorized interpreter of Scripture. The church 
acquaints them that they were themselves regenerated, and made the 
children of grace, by the benefit of baptism; while the preacher 
evidently treats them as if it were possible they might be still un- 
regenerate." — Sumner^ s Apostolical Preaching. 

1 " Hopkins on the New Birth. Observe the difference between his language 
and our judicious reformers : ' Since actions which spring not of faith in Christ 
are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt 
not hut that they have the nature of sin ' " (Art. xiii.). 



346 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



KoTE C — Page 323. 

It seems not unlikely that the same causes may have operated 
in favor of that sect also which rejects the sacraments altogether. 
As for the argument which I have known put forward, with apparent 
seriousness, that the luord Sacrament does not occur in Scripture, 
and that, therefore, we ought not to have any, this can hardly have 
had any real influence on intelligent minds. For, one might as well 
urge, that since the word " virtue " does not occur in our Lord's 
discourses, therefore he did not mean his followers to practise virtue. 

But at the time when that sect arose, a very large proportion of 
Christian ministers, while they were administering to infants a rite 
which they spoke of as a sign of regeneration, or new-birth, at the 
same time taught — at least, were understood as teaching — that 
there is no intelligible connection whatever between the sign and the 
thing signified, nor any real benefit attached to the rite. The new 
birth they taught their people to hope for at some future indefinite 
time. And they taught them to believe, as a part of the Christian 
revelation, that, of infants brought to baptism, an uncertain, indefinite 
number of individuals — undistinguislidble at that time from the rest 
— are, by the divine decree, totally and finally excluded from all 
share in the benefits of Christ's redemption. 

Now, men accustomed to see and hear all this, would be not un- 
likely to listen with favor to those who declared — professedly by 
divine inspiration — that " water-baptism," as they call it, is an empty 
and superstitious ceremony, originating in a misapprehension of our 
Lord's meaning ; of which meaning they — gifted with the same 
inspiration as his apostles — are commissioned to be interpreters. 

And when one sacrament thus had been explained away, the re- 
jection of the other also, according to a similar kind of reasoning, 
would follow of course. 

And, after all, this rejection was but the carrying out of a principle 
of procedure which had been long before sanctioned by others. It 
had been long before decided that, at the eucharist, one of the ap- 
pointed symbols might safely be omitted, and that the perfect spiritual 
participation by the communicants in the benefit of the sacrament is 
not thereby at all impaired. To dispense with the other symbol 
also, and likewise with the symbol of the other sacrament, and then 
to call this a spiritual celebration of the sacraments, was only taking 
a step further in the same direction. 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



In truth, the abolition of the sacraments, by explaining away, as 
figurative, words of our Lord which were undoubtedly understood by 
his hearers at the time literally ; or, again, the literal interpretation 
of his words, " this is my body," which must have been understood at 
the time figuratively (for the apostles could not have supposed that 
at the last supper he was holding in his hands his own literal body) ; 
or the addition of fresh sacraments not instituted by him or his apos- 
tles ; or a departure from the mode he appointed of celebrating ihe 
eucharist, by the withholding of the cup, — all these, and any other 
similar liberties taken with Scripture, stand on the same ground, and 
are equally justifiable or equally unjustifiable. If certain individuals, 
or councils, or other bodies of men, are really inspired messengers 
from heaven, " moved by the Spirit " to declare with infallible cer- 
tainty the will of the Lord, then their words are to be received and 
obeyed with the same deference as those of Peter or Paul. And 
if they announce any change in the divine dispensations, or give 
any new interpretation of any part of Scripture, we are bound to 
acquiesce, even as the Jews were required to do in that great " mys- 
tery of the gospel," the opening of the kingdom of heaven to the 
Gentiles. It is God who speaks by their mouths ; and he who has 
established any ordinance has evidently the power to abrogate or 
alter it. 

And when persons who make such a claim (or admit it in their 
leaders) profess to take Scripture for their guide, they must be un- 
derstood to mean that it is their guide only in the sense attached to 
it by the persons thus divinely commissioned, and in those points 
only wherein no additional or difierent revelation has been made 
through these persons. When there has, the later revelation, of 
course, supersedes the earlier. 

Nor does it make any real difference whether something be added 
to the Bible, claiming equal divine authority, or w^hether merely an 
alleged infallible interpretation be given of what is already written. 
For an interpretation coming from any church or person divinely 
commissioned, and speaking " as the Spirit moveth," is of the same 
authority with Scripture itself, and must be implicitly received, how- 
ever at variance with the sense which any ordinary reader would, 
of himself, attach to the words. And those who completely surren- 
der their own judgment to any supj)Osed infallible interpreter are, 
in fact, taking him — not Scripture — for their guide. 

" It is most important, when the expression is used of * referring 



348 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



to Scripture as the infallible standard/ and requiring assent to sucli 
points of faith only as can be thence proved, to settle clearly, in the 
outset, the important question, ' proved to wliom f ' If any man or 
body of men refer us to Scripture as the sole authoritative standard, 
meaning that we are not to be called on to believe anything as a 
necessary point of faith, on their word, but only on our own convic- 
tion that it is scriptural, then they place our faith on the basis, not 
of human authority, but of divine. But if they call on us^ as a point 
of conscience, to receive whatever is proved to their satisfaction from 
Scripture, even though it may appear to us unscriptural, then, instead 
of releasing us from the usurped authority of man taking the place 
of God, they are placing on us two burdens instead of one. ' You 
require us,' we might reply, ' to believe, first, that whatever you 
teach is true ; and, secondly, besides this, to believe also that it is a 
truth contained in Scripture; and we are to take your ivord for 
both!'"^ 

When, therefore, any such claim is set up, we are authorized and 
bound to require " the signs of an apostle." Professed ambassadors 
from heaven should be called on to show their credentials, — the mi- 
raculous powers which alone can prove their inspiration, — on pain 
of being convicted of profane presumption in daring to " say, thus 
saith the Lord, when the Lord hath not spoken." 

Hence, there are probably many intelligent persons who do not 
really believe in the existence, in the present day, of inspiration, 
properly so called, though they continue to employ a language, 
derived from their predecessors, which implies it. I have adverted 
to this case in another work, from which I will take the liberty of 
extracting a passage : 

"It is well known that there are sects and other parties of 
Christians, of whose system it forms a part, to believe in immediate, 
sensible inspiration, — that the preachers are directly and perceptibly 
moved to speak by the Holy Spirit, and utter what he suggests. 
Now suppose any one, brought up in these principles, and originally 
perhaps a sincere believer in his own inspiration, becoming after- 
wards so far sobered as to perceive, or strongly suspect, their delu- 
siveness, and so to modify at least his views of the subject as in fact 
to nullify all the peculiarity of the doctrine, which yet many of his 
hearers, he knows, hold in its full extent ; must he not be strongly 



1 Essay on the Kingdom of Christ, pp. 211, 212. 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



349 



tempted to keep up what will probably seem to him so salutary a 
delusion ? Such a case as this I cannot think to be even of rare 
occurrence. For, a man of sound judgment, and of a reflective turn, 
must, one would think, have it forced on his attention, that he speaks 
better after long practice than when a novice, — better on a subject 
he has been used to preach on than on a comparatively new one, — 
and better with premediiation than on a sudden ; and all this, as is 
plain both from the nature of the case and from Scripture, is incon- 
sistent with inspiration. Practice and study cannot improve the 
immediate suggestions of the Holy Ghost, and the apostles were on 
that ground expressly forbidden to ' take thought beforehand what 
they should say, or to premeditate ; because it should be given them 
in the same hour what they should say.' Again, he will perhaps see 
cause to alter his views of some passages of Scripture he may have 
referred to, or in other points to modify some of the opinions he may 
have expressed ; and this, again, is inconsistent with the idea of inspi- 
ration, at least on both occasions. 

" Yet with these views of his own preaching, as not really and 
properly inspired and infallible, he is convinced that he is inculcating 
the great and important truths of Christianity, — that he is conse- 
quently, in a certain sense, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, 
from whom a/Z good things must proceed, — and that his preaching is 
of great benefit to his hearers ; who yet would cease to attend to it 
were he distinctly to declare to them his own real sentiments. In 
such a case he must be very strongly tempted to commit the pious 
fraud of conniving at a belief which he does not himself sincerely 
hold ; consoling perhaps his conscience with the reflection, that when 
he professes to be moved by the Spirit, he says what he is convinced 
is true, though 7iot true in the sense in which most of his hearers 
understand it, — not true in the sense which constitutes that very 
peculiarity of doctrine wherein perhaps originated the separation of 
his sect or party from other Christians." ^ 

It is probable, however, that many persons deceive both others 
and themselves by confusing together in their minds diflerences of 
degree and diflerences of amount;^ and thence imagining (what a 

1 Errors of Komanism, pp. 87, 88. 

2 The imperfection of modern languages conduces much to this confusion. In 
Greek, more and less in quantity are expressed by irXeiov (or fji^i^ov) and 
€\arTOU ; more or less in degree by ijlolWov and tjttov. To a beginner, Aris- 

30 



350 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



little calm reflection must show to be impossible, and indeed un- 
intelligible) that there may be different degrees of what is properly 
and strictly termed inspiration ; that is, the miraculous influence 
under which we conceive anything that we call an inspired work to 
have been written. The existence or non-existence of this inspira- 
tion is a question of fact ; and though there may be different degrees 
of evidence for the existence of a fact, it is plain that one fact cannot 
be, itself, more or less a fact than another. 

Inspiration may extend either to the very words uttered, or merely 
to the subject-matter of them, or merely to a certain portion of the 
matter, — to all, for instance, that pertains to religious truth, so as 
to afford a complete exemption from doctrinal error; though not 
to matters of geography, natural philosophy, etc. But in every 
case we understand that to whatever points the inspiration does 
extend, in these it secures infallibility ; and infallibility manifestly 
cannot admit of degrees. 

When we are speaking of the instructive, the eloquent, the enter- 
taining, etc., we may call one discourse tolerably well-written, another 
rather better written, and a third better still. Each of them is what 
it is, in a different degree from the others. But we could not with 
propriety speak of one discourse as being ^' somewhat inspired," 
another, as " rather more inspired," and again, another, as " a good 
deal inspired." 

If any one is distinctly commissioned to deliver a message from 
heaven, in any one instance, with infallible proof, to himself and to 
others, that it is such, he is as truly inspired, and his revelation as 
much a revelation, as if he had had revealed to him a hundred times 
a greater quantity of superhuman knowledge. That one message is 

totle's remark, that though the category of iroiov of what quality ") admits of 
degrees, that of irocrou how much") does not, is apt to appear paradoxical. 
In quantity five is less — a smaller number — than ten ; but it is what it is — five 
— as much as the other is what it is — ten. On the other hand, a beautiful ob- 
ject, for instance, may be more beautiful than another; each of them being what 
it is in a different degree {fxaWov or r)TTOv) than the other. So also the quality 
of being rich admits of degrees. One man is richer than another rich man, if he 
possesses more in quantity of money than the other; but the money itself does 
not admit of degrees ; since a penny is no less a penny than a pound is a pound. 
The Greeks vrould say, with that distinctness which their language enabled 
them to attain with ease, that to irXovTeiv admits of degrees {i^aWoj/ or 7)Ttov), 
but that 'rrXovTOS does not. 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



351 



as much God's word as any part of Scripture. Even so Paul, who 
spoke with tongues more than all " the disciples he was addressing,^ 
had not more that miraculous gift (though he had the gift of more 
tongues) than any one of them who had been supernaturally taught 
a sinole foreisjn lanijuas^e. 

If a man has ascertained, and can prove, that he has had, either 
in words or merely in substance, a revelation of some doctrine, or, 
again, an infalhble divine assurance of safety from religious errors, 
he is to be listened to — in reference to those points to ivJiich the in- 
^spiration extends — as speaking with divine authority. But, on the 
other hand, if he has no infallible proofs to give of having received 
a divine communication, then, though most or all of what he says 
may be, in fact, perfectly true, he has no right to use such an ex- 
pression as " the Spirit moveth me to say so and so." He ought 
rather to say, — what a pious and humble preacher must mean, — I 
hope and trust that what I am setting forth is sound and useful 
doctrine : and so far as it is so, it must be the gift of Him " from 
whom all good things do proceed ; " but how far it is so, both you 
and I must judge as well as we can, by a careful reference to Holy 
Scripture, with a full consciousness of our own fallibility. 



Note D — Page 330. 

" Concerning several points of this class, — such as the validity of 
lay-baptism, or of baptism by heretics or schismatics, etc., — questions 
have been often raised which have been involved in much unneces- 
sary perplexity, from its being common to mix up together what are 
in fact several distinct questions, though relating to the same subject. 
For instance, in respect of the validity of lay-baptism, three impor- 
tant and perfectly distinct questions may be raised ; no one of which 
is answered by the answering either way of the others ; namely, 
1. What has a church the right to determine as to this point? 2. 
What is the tuisest and best determination it can make ? 3. What 
has this or that particular church actually determined ? Now persons 
who are agreed concerning the answer to one of these questions, 



1 1 Cor. xiv. 18. 



S52 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



may yet differ concerning the others ; and vice versa.^* ^ — Kingdom 
of Christ, Essay IL § 39, pp. 282, 283. 

With respect to the first question, in reference to lay-baptism, it 
is plain that, according to the above principles, a church has a right 
to admit or to refuse to admit members. This right it possesses as 
a society. As a Christian society, sanctioned by our heavenly Mas- 
ter, it has a right to administer his sacraments ; and it has a right to 
decide who shall or who shall not exercise certain functions, and 
under what circumstances. If it permit laymen (that is, those who 
are excluded from other spiritual functions) to baptize, it does, by 
that permission, constitute them its functionaries, in respect of that 
particular point. And this it has a right to do, or to refuse to do. 
If a church refuse to recognize as valid any baptism not administered 
by such and such officers, then the pretended administration of it 
by any one else is of course null and void, as wanting that sanction 
of a Christian church which alone can confer validity. 

With respect to the second question, it does appear to me ex- 
tremely unadvisable, derogatory to the dignity of the ordinance, 
and tending both to superstition and to profaneness, that the admis- 
sion, through a divinely-instituted rite, of members into the society, 
should be in any case intrusted to persons not expressly chosen and 
solemnly appointed to any othce in that society. 

Nearly similar reasoning will apply, I think, to the case of ordi- 
nations. What appears to me the wisest course, would be that each 
church should require a distinct appointment hy thai church itself, 
to any ministerial office to be exercised therein ; whether the person 
so appointed had been formerly ordained or not to any such office 
in another church. But the form of this appointment need not be 
such as to cast any stigma on a former ordination, by implying 
that the person in question had not been a real and regular minister 
of another distinct society. For any church has a fair right to demand 
that (unless reason be shown to the contrary) its acts should be 
regarded as valid within the pale of that church itself ; but no church 
can reasonably claim a right to ordain ministers for another church. 

As for the remaining question. What is the actual determination 
as to this point ? this is of course a distinct question in reference to 
each church. 

1 See Appendix, Kote O. Hooker, in his 5th Book, maintains at great length 
the vaUdity of baptism by laymen and women. 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



353 



On tLls point it is only necessary to remark liow important it is, 
with a view to good order and peace, that some determination should 
be made, and should be clearly set forth, by any church, as to this 
and other like practical questions ; and that they should not be left 
in such a state of uncertainty as to furnish occasion for disputes 
and scruples.^ Many points of doctrine^ indeed, that may fairly be 
regarded as non-essential, it may be both allowable and wise for a 
church to leave at large, and pronounce no decision on them ; allow- 
ing each minister, if he thinks fit, to put forth his own exposition as 
the result of his own judgment, and not as a decision of the church. 
But it is not so in matters even intrinsically indilferent, where 
church discipline is concerned. A minister ought to be as seldom 
as possible left in the predicament of not knowing irliat Tie ought to do 
in a case that comes before him. And though it is too much to 
expect from a church composed of fallible men that its decisions on 
every point should be such as to obtain universal approbation as the 
very best, it is but fair to require that it should at least give decisions, 
according to the best judgment of its legislators, on points which, ia 
each particular case that arises, must be decided in one way or 
another. 

That so many points of this character should in our own church 
be left in a doubtful state, is one out of the many evils resulting from 
the want of a legislative government for the church ; which for more 
than a century has had none,^ except the civil legislature ; a body 
as unwilling, as it is unfitted, to exercise any such functions. Sucli 
certainly was not the state of things designed or contemplated by 
our reformers ; and I cannot well understand the consistency of 
those who are perpetually eulogizing the Reformers, their principles 
and proceedings, and yet so completely run counter to them in a 
most fundamental point, as to endeavor to prevent, or not endeavor 
to promote, that establishment of a church government ; which no 
one can doubt they at least regarded as a thing essential to the well- 
being, ''if not to the permanent existence, of a church."^ — Kingdom 
of Christ, App. (O), pp. 340-342. 

1 See Appeal on behalf of church government reprinted in Bishop Dickinson's 
Eemains. 

2 See Case of Occasional Days and Prayers, by John Johnson, A. M., Ticar 
of Cranbrook, in the Diocese of Canterbury. 

3 See speech on presenting a petition from the Diocese of Kildare, with Ap- 
pendix, reprinted in a volume of Charges and other Tracts. 

30* 



354 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



In reference to this subject, I insert an extract from a letter from 
a very intelligent and well-informed pastor in France, relative to 
the decisions and practices of the Church of Home. 

I have only to add the remark, that if it had been definitely pro- 
nounced that baptism by heretics is totally invalid, the Church of 
Rome could have claimed no power over them (any more than over 
Pagans or Mussulmans) as members, though rebellious members, of 
that church (see Note A of this Appendix) : 

" Les theologiens du concile de Trente, qui avaient etudie Aristote 
que I'evangile, signalerent 7 canaux de la grace divine ; ce sont les plus 
sacraments. Sur les 7, 6 sont conferes exclusivement par les pretres. 
Un seul, le hapieme^ pent I'etre par un main laique ; mais dans le cas 
de necessite'. Deplus, le bapteme est administre alors avec de Veau 
hcnite par les pretres. Chez nous la sage femme qui prevoit un 
accouchement laborieux, est obhgee, par son serment, de porter avec 
elle de Veau henite. A peine I'enfant est il venu au jour qu'elle Vondoie 
avec cette eau consacree, et meme si elle pense que Tenfant mourra 
avant de sortir du sein de la mere, elle introduit Veau henite; voila 
ce qu'une sage femme me racontait Fautre jour. D'oii je conclus 
qu'en definitive, tout remonte au pretre Romaln. 

" Quant a la validite du bapteme des heretlques, c'est une anomalie 
curieuse dans I'eglise Komaine. Les theologiens du concile se par- 
tagerent sur la question de savoir si la grace du bapteme procede ex 
opere operato ou ex opere operantis. Les cardinaux diplomates du 
concile, se rappelant qu'un pape avait decide la vcdidite du bapteme 
celebre par les heretiqucs, et ne voulant pas convenir qu'un pape 
s'etait trompe, laisserent la question indecise, et firent decreter que 
les enfans des heretiques ne seraicnt pas rebaptises, pourvu que le 
bapteme fut fait suivant la formule consacree^ et les intentions de 
VEglise. Alors, se fondant sur cette restriction, nos pretres Fran- 
cais rebaptisent tourjours ceux qu'ils convertissent a leur religion." 



Note E — Page 331. 

The solicitude of our reformers on this point is manifested in 
their requiring sponsors over and above the parents (if any) for 
an infant brought to baptism ; and that the sponsors should be of 
mature age, and communicants, (See Canons.) They permitted? 
indeed, that, in cases of necessity, the rite should be administered 



OM INFAXT-BAPTISM. 



355 



without sponsors ; but no candid person can doubt that they always 
contemplated the application for baptism being made by some one 
who should be understood as engaging for the Christian education of 
the child. 

I am aware that it is often difficult, and sometimes impossible, to 
enforce rigidly the directions of our church respecting sponsors ; 
but ministers are bound to do their hest towards complying vrith 
those directions, and in every way to guard against the thouglidess 
carelessness and the irregularities which are so apt to find their way 
into the administration of this holy ordinance. One may too often 
see evinced, in the way in which, by many, the one sacrament is 
blindly shunned, and the other as blindly sought, a similar super- 
stition and ignorance. 

How much of ignorance and misconception, and of consequent 
superstition and profaneness, prevails on this subject, you must be 
but too well aware. One instance would alone suffice to show this, — 
the shocking profanation so often exhibited, — the " christening as 
it is called, of a newly-built ship ; a ceremony commonly attended 
and sanctioned by (so called) educated persons ; who would not, it 
must be hoped, but through gross ignorance and thoughtlessness, 
take a part in a solemn mockery of one of Christ's sacraments. 

In reference to another point connected with the same subject, I 
subjoin an extract from an address to the clergy of the diocese, 
written in 1846 : 

Some cases of irregularity having come under my notice, origi- 
nating, I have no doubt, in inadvertence, it seems to me not improb- 
able that other instances also, of a like inadvertence, may have 
occurred, that have not come to my knowledge. 

have accordingly judged it best not to delay noticing this mat- 
ter till the visitation, but to bring it before you at once^ and in a 
general way ; as I would always rather prevent than censure any 
irregularity. 

" I find that in some instances a practice has grown up of baptiz- 
ing in private houses, administering the rite according to the order 
for public baptism ; and accordingly many of the infants thus bap- 
tized are, I apprehend, never publicly presented at all to be received 
into the congregation in the parish church. And this has been 
done, I have reason to fear, even in some cases in which the Eubric 
does not contemplate any private baptism at all ; merely in compli- 
ance with the fancy of the parents to convert into a mere domestic 



356 



WHATELY^S ESSAYS. 



ceremony wliat ought to be treated as a church sacrament. If such 
a misapprehension be blamable in any lay-member of the church, 
the encouragement of it must be much more censurable in a minis- 
ter, whose business is to instruct those committed to his charge, and 
to correct any errors they may fall into. 

" If you will put before your people the directions contained in 
the Prayer Book, they will readily understand that you are bound 
never to administer baptism at all in a private house, except in a 
bona fide and duly certified case of pressing danger ; and that when 
such a case does occur, you are bound to proceed according to the 
directions so precisely and plainly given in the Rubric. 

" Other disadvantages likely to result from irregularity in this 
matter, such as the danger of a total omission of registration^ I do 
not advert to at present, because it is sufficient to have pointed out 
what is, independently of all such considerations, the clear duty 
of a minister of our church." 



Note F — Page 332. 

" I would wish," remarks Bp. Ryder, " generally to restrict the 
term [regeneration] to the baptismal privileges ; and considering 
them as comprehending not only an external admission into the 
visible church, not only a covenanted title to the pardon and grace 
of the gospel, bat even a degree of spiritual aid vouchsafed, and 
ready to offer itself to our acceptance or rejection at the dawn of 
reason. I would recommend a reference to these privileges in our 
discourses, as talents which the hearer should have so improved as 
to bear interest ; as seed which should have sprung up and produced 
fruit. 

" But at the same time I would solemnly protest against that most 
serious error (which has arisen probably from exalting too highly 
the just view of baptismal regeneration) of contemplating all the 
members of a baptized congregation as converted^ — > as having, all, 
once known the truth, and entered upon the right path, though 
some may have wandered from it, and others may have made little 
progress, — as not therefore requiring (what all by nature, and most 
it is to be feared through defective principle and practice require) 
that ' transformation by the renewing of the mind ; ' that * putting 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



357 



off the old man and putting on the new man/ which is ?o emphat- 
ically enjoined by St. Paul to his baptized Romans and Ephesians." 
— Extract from Bishop Ryder's {of Lichfield) Primary Charge to his 
Clergy, 

" In the baptismal service," says the late Mr. Simeon, " we thank 
God for having regenerated the baptized infant hy his Holy Spirit. 
Now from hence it appears that, in the opinion of our reformers^ re- 
generation and remission of sins did accompany baptism. But in 
what sense did they hold this sentiment ? Did they maintain that 
there was no need for the seed then sown in the heart of the bap- 
tized person to grow up and to bring forth fruit ? or that he could be 
saved in any other way than by a progressive renovation of his soul 
after the divine image ? Had they asserted any such doctrine as 
that, it would have been impossible for any enlightened person to 
concur with them. But nothing can be conceived more repugnant 
to their sentiments than such an idea as this. So far from harboring 
such a thought, they have, and that too in this very prayer, taught us 
to look to God for that total change both of heart and life which, long 
since their days^ has begun to be expressed by the term regeneration. 
After thanking God for regenerating the infant by his Holy Spirit^v^Q are 
taught to pray ' that he being dead unto sin, and living unto righteous- 
ness, may crucify the old man, and utterly abolish the whole body of 
sin ; ' and then declaring the total change to be the necessary mean 
of his obtaining salvation, we add, ' so that finally, with the residue 
of thy holy church, he may be an inheritor of thine everlasting 
kingdom.' Is there, I would ask, any person that can require more 
than this ? or does God in his word require more ? There are 
two things to be noticed in reference to this subject, — the term ' re- 
generation ' and the thing. The term occurs but twice in the Scrip- 
tures, — in one place it refers to baptism, and is distinguished from 
the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which, however, is represented as at- 
tendant on it ; and in the other place it has a totally distinct meaning, 
unconnected with the subject. Now the term they use as the Scrip- 
ture uses it, and the thing they require as strongly as any person can 
require it. They do not give us any reason to imagine that an adult 
person can be saved without experiencing all that modern divines 
{Ultra Protestant divines') have included in the term ' regeneration : ' 
on the contrary, they do both there and in the liturgy insist upon a 
radical change of both heart and life. Here, then, the only question 
is, not ' whether a baptized person can be saved by that ordinance 



358 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



without sanctification/ but whether God does always accompany the 
sign with the thing signified. Here is certainly room for difference 
of opinion, hut it cannot be posiiivehj decided in the negative, because 
we cannot know, or even judge, respecting it in any case whatever, 
except by the fruits that follow ; and, therefore, in all fairness, it 
may be considered only as a doubtful point ; and if he appeal, as he 
ought to do, to the Holy Scriptures, they certainly do in a very re- 
markable way accord with the expressions in our liturgy. St. Paul 
says, ' By one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we 
be Jews or Gentiles, whether we bond or free, and have been all 
made to drink into one Spirit.' And this he says of all the visible 
members of Christ's body (1 Cor. xii. 13, 27). Again, speaking of 
the whole nation of Israel, infants as well as adults, he says, ' They 
were all baptized under Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and did 
all eat the sam-e spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual 
drink ; for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and 
that rock was Christ^ (1 Cor. x. 1, 4). Yet, behold, in the very 
next verse he tells us that, * with many of them God was displeased, 
and overthrew them in the wilderness.' In another place he speaks 
yet more strongly still : * As many of you,' says he, * as are baptized 
into Christ have put on Christ.' Here we see what is meant by the 
expression, ' baptized into Christ ; ' it is precisely the same expression 
as that before mentioned of the Israelites being 'baptized unto 
Moses ; ' the preposition, ets, is used in both places ; it includes all 
that had been initiated into his religion by the rite of baptism ; 
and of them, universally, does the apostle say, ' They have put on 
Christ' Now, I ask, have not the persons who scruple the use of 
that prayer in the baptismal service equal reason to scruple the use 
of these different expressions ? 

" Again, St. Peter says, * Repent and be baptized every one of 
you for the remission of sins ' (Acts ii. 38, 39). And in another place, 
' Baptism doth now save us ' (1 Pet. iii. 21). And speaking else- 
v/here of baptized persons who were unfruitful in the knowledge of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, he says, * He hath forgotten that he was purged 
from his old sins* (2 Pet. i. 9). Does not this very strongly counte- 
nance the IDEA WHICH OUR REFORMERS ENTERTAINED, THAT THE 
REMISSION OF OUR SINS, AND THE REGENERATION OF OUR SOULS, 

IS ATTENDANT ON THE BAPTISMAL RITE ? Perhaps it wiU be 
said that the inspired writers spake of persons who had been bap- 
tized at an adult age. But if they did so in some places, they cer- 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



350 



tainly did not in others; and where they did not, they must be 
understood as comprehending all, whether infants or adults ; and 
therefore the language of our liturgy, which is not a whit stronger 
than theh's, may be both subscribed and used without any just occa- 
sion of oiFente. 

" Let me then speak the truth before God : though I am no Ar- 
minian, / do think the refinements of Calvin have done great harm in 
the church ; they have driven multitudes from the plain and popular 
way of speaking used hy the inspired ivriters, and have made them 
unreasonably and unscripturally squeamish in their modes of ex- 
pression ; and I conceive that the less addicted any person is to 
systematic accuracy, the more he will accord with the inspired 
writers, and the more he will approve the views of our reformers. 
I do not mean, however, to say that a slight alteration in two or 
three instances would not be an improvement, since it would take 
off a burthen from many minds, and supersede the necessity of labored 
explanations ; but I do mean to say that there is no such objection 
to these expressions as to deter any conscientious person from giving 
his unfeigned assent and consent to the liturgy altogether, or from 
using the particular expressions which we have been endeavoring to 
explain." — Simeon's V/orks, vol. ii. p. 259. 

In the case of infant-baptism," says Archbishop Sumner, there 
are evidently no similar means of ascertaining the actual disposition. 
The benefit received is strictly gratuitous, or ' of free grace.' It is 
promised, however, to faith and obedience, presupposed in the re- 
cipient and pledged in his name by the sponsors : whence it follows 
that the blessing attached to the sacrament must fail, if the condi- 
tions fail in those who are capable of performing them ; and that 
the faith and obedience must become actual and personal in those 
who arrive at mature age. It has not altered the nature of Chris- 
tianity, that its external privileges are become national. Whoever, 
therefore, professes the hope of the gospel, must individually em- 
brace the doctrine of the gospel, must consent as sincerely as the 
earliest converts, to refer whatever he does in word or deed to the 
glory of God, — with the primitive humility of the apostles must re- 
nounce all confidence in his own strength, and must look for salva- 
vation through Christ's death, with as much personal gratitude as if 
Christ had suffered for him alone. Though in many cases it may be 
impossible, as was formerly acknowledged, for those who have been 
placed in covenant with God by baptism, to state at what time and 



360 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



by what process the truths of the gospel became an active principle 
in the mind, still it is undeniable that in all who attain the age of 
reason they must become so, or the covenant is made void ; and it is 
a definite and intelligible question whether they have actually taken 
this hold, or no. How the tree was nourished and invigorated, and 
enabled to sustain the inclement seasons which opposed its early 
growth and strength, we may in vain inquire ; but whether it bears 
fruit or not, and whether that fruit gives evidence of a sound stock, 
any one may examine either as to himself or others. Is the heart 
possessed of a sincere conviction of its own sinfulness and need of a 
Saviour ? Does it manifest its dependence on the Holy Spirit by an 
habitual intercourse with God through prayer ? Does it feel a practi- 
cal sense of the great business of this life as a probation, and prep- 
aration for eternity ? These are infallible characters of faith ; and 
though they will be found in different degrees in different individ- 
uals, no one should be satisfied with himself, and no one should 
suffer his congregation to be satisfied, till he can trace these characters 
in the heart. 

" But if such a frame of mind is indispensable to a Christian's 
reasonable hope, it is evident that a preacher can in no wise take it 
for granted that it exists in his hearers as the necessary and certain 
consequence of baptism ; but must require of all who have the 
privilege of baptism, that they strive to attain it ; that, being regen- 
erate in condition, they be also renewed in nature ; and constantly 
examine themselves whether they have this proof within them, that 
they are born of the Sjnrit as well as of water ^ and can make the 
* answer of a good conscience towards God.' " — Sumner's Apostolical 
Preaching^ ch. vii. 

It is not, however, by those only who approve of the doctrine 
which I have attributed to our reformers, that this interpretation of 
their words is adopted. Several persons also who disapprove it, 
both Dissenters and (what is very remarkable) Churchmen, concur 
in adopting an interpretation substantially the same. 

As for the former of these, the Dissenters, their testimony will, I 
suppose, be considered as of the less weight in proportion as they 
may be suspected of being unconsciously biassed by a wish to 
alienate others from a church to which they do not themselves be- 
long. But the reverse is the case with those who are members, and 
even ministers, of our church ; since tlieir bias, if any, must be on the 
opposite side. 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



361 



Now there is a case recorded of a beneficed clergyman who, not 
many years ago, felt it his duty to print and circulate among his 
parishioners tracts censuring the formularies of the church on the 
very ground of their inculcating the doctrines in question. For 
this procedure he was tried in an ecclesiastical court, and sentenced 
to suspension. 

Some of his parishioners endeavored thereupon to raise a sub- 
scription for him ; and with that view put forth a printed circular 
(of which a copy was sent to me), representing him as a martyr 
suffering persecution for conscience sake. And there might have 
been some ground for this representation, if he had voluntarily 
resigned the endowments of a church which he regarded as funda- 
mentally unsound, instead of retaining them as long as he was per- 
mitted to do so. 

The system of morality — whatever it was — by which he recon- 
ciled this to his conscience, seems to have been adopted by a portion 
at least of his flock. 

But at any rate, he could have had no conceivable bias towards 
an interpretation of the formularies of his church which would make 
them at variance with his own teaching. 

Note G — Page 338. 

All persons ought to receive the holy communion of the Lord's 
Supper on the very first opportunity after being confirmed. Our 
church directs that ' no one shall be admitted to the communion ex- 
cept one who has been confiimed, or is ready and is desirous to be 
confirmed ; ' and again, that ' all persons ' (that is, of course all 
who are not too young or too ignorant for confirmation) ' shall re- 
ceive the communion at least three times a year.' From this it is 
plain that though such as have not been confirmed may, if they are 
prepared and willing to be so, attend without any scruple the sac- 
rament of the Lord's Supper ; on the other hand, no one, who has 
been confirmed, ought to delay receiving that sacrament. The 
catechism also, designed for the instruction of children before con- 
firmation, proves the same thing ; since it contains an explanation 
of the two sacraments. 

" Some persons entertain a groundless notion, that a child, who is 
fit for confirmation, may yet be too young to receive the commu- 

31 



362 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



nion ; and many, it is to be feared, for this and for other reasons, 
go on from Sunday to Sunday, and from year to year, putting off 
this duty, in expectation of becoming more fit for it ; when it is 
likely that they are becoming every day less fit, and are falling into 
a careless and irreligious state of mind. 

" But if you will consider the matter carefully, you will see that 
our church is quite right in determining that all who have been 
confirmed should receive the Lord's Supper without delay. For 
all of them, it is to be hoped, understand and rightly reflect on the 
one sacrament, — that of baptism ; if they do not, the ceremony of 
confirmation is a mere empty mockery ; and if they do, they are 
capable of sufficiently understanding and valuing the other sacra- 
ment also, and in that case they ought not to delay receiving it. 

" Accordingly provision has been made to prevent any such delay, 
by celebrating the Lord's Supper in each church immediately after 
the confirmation ; and all the young persons who shall have been 
confirmed will be expected to attend. 

" ' To-day, therefore, if ye will hear God's voice, while it is called 
to-day, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin,' 
accept his gracious offer ; and continue from this time forth to be a 
regular attendant at his holy table." 

CONFIRMATION HYMN. 

" Lord, shall thy children come to thee? 

A boon of love divine we seek ; 
Brought to thine arms in infancy, 

Ere heart could feel or tongue could speak, 
Thy children pray for grace that they 
May come themselves to thee this day. 

" Lord, shall we come? and come again 
Oft as we see yon table spread, 
And — tokens of thy dying pain — 

The vrine poured out, the broken bread ? 
Bless, bless, O Lord, thy children's prayer, 
That they may come and find Thee there ! 

" Lord, shall we come, not thus alone, 
At holy time, or solemn rite, 
But every hour till life be flown, 

In weal or woe, in gloom or light; 
Come to thy throne of grace, that we 
In faith, hope, love, confirmed may be? 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



363 



" Lord, shall we come — come vet again, — 
Thy children ask one blessing more, — 
To come not now alone, but then. 

When life, and death, and time are o'er; 
Then, then to come, O Lord, and be 
Confirmed in heaven, confirmed by thee? ' 



KoTE H — Page 338. 

As for the particular contest I have now been alluding to, I shall 
abstain from entering on any discussion of the merits of the decisions 
which have been pronounced, further than to remark upon one mis- 
conception of them which I have observed to be not a little preva- 
lent. The recent sentence, which has attracted so much public at- 
tention, was not, as several persons seem to have apprehended, a 
decision as to the soundness or unsoundness of such and such views 
of a Scripture doctrine, but on a very different question. That 
question was, whether the maintainers of a certain tenet are, as such, 
excluded from holding office in our church, — whether our formula- 
ries are so distinct and decisive on the point as in fact to excommu- 
nicate all who hold that tenet. And the decision actually given — 
be it a right or a ivrong one — is one which might conceivably have 
been given (without any just imputation of inconsistency) by judges 
who did. not themselves entertain such views. 

Thus much, at least, is what no one, I conceive, will, on reflection, 
at all doubt, — that if the opinions of the contending parties had been 
reversed^ and a candidate for institution had been rejected on the 
ground of his not holding the doctrines which were recently objected 
to as heterdox, the decision would have been, at least as promptly 
as in the present case, given in his favor. For it ought to be re- 
membered, that in the case of any penal enactment, the established 
rule is, to incline always (where any doubt exists) towards the most 
lenient interpretation. And exclusion from a benefice is evidently 
of the character of a penalty. 

As for the degree of latitude that is to be allowed in the interpre- 
tation of the articles and formularies of a church, it would be 
manifestly impossible to lay down any general rule that would be a 
sufficient guide in all particular cases. But every one must admit, 
I conceive, that there is a just medium which should be aimed at, 
however men may differ in fixing that medium in each individual 



36-1 



miATELY'S ESSAYS. 



instance, between excessive strictness and excessive laxity. For, on 
tlie one hand, if each of us should insist on excluding from church- 
membership all who did not fully coincide with himself in the pre- 
cise interpretation of every passage in our formularies, and in every 
inference which appeared to him fairly deducible from such inter- 
pretation, it can hardly be doubted that the result would be a virtual 
division of the church into several dilferent churches, mutually ex- 
communicating each other. And yet it is no less evident, on the 
other hand, that if, through dread of such a result, we should adopt 
the principle that every one is to be at liberty to assign to our fonii- 
ularies whatever meaning he may think fit, interpreting them in 
any " non-natural " sense that may suit his own views, no form of 
religion, or of irreligion — atheism not excepted — w^ould be ex- 
cluded.-^ Our church would be one in nothino^ but in name : and 
language would have completely failed of the very object for which 
language exists, — to convey an intelligible sense. 

Recently, however, we have witnessed the strange spectacle of 
professed members and beneficed ministers of our church openly 
maintaining trans ubstantiation and the sacrifice of the mass 5 or, at 
least, what comes so near to these doctrines, that, of plain men un- 
versed in scholastic subtilities, not one in a hundred could perceive 
the difference. And others again, while professing to disapprove of 
such teaching, yet regard it as not going beyond the allowable lati- 
tude conceded to members of our church ; though the doctrines arc 
what our reformers risked, and some of them sacrificed, their lives 
in opposing ; and which they sedulously guarded against not only in 
the articles, but also in the Rubric, in which they declare that " our 
Lord's body is in heaven, and not here." Strange, again, it is, 
and lamentable, that persons should be found, even among the mem- 
bers of our own church, who, while vehemently opposing the doctrines 
in question, labor to fix on our church the imputation of favoring 
those views, on the ground of our reformers having used language 
borrowed from that of our Lord himself: "My flesh is meat indeed," 
etc. If, in the expressions of our reformers, the word " indeed " is 
to be understood to signify literally and corporeally," the same 
word in our Lord's expression must be understood so too ; and thus 
these opponents of transubstantiation labor to array against them- 

1 As this may perhaps appear to some of my readers an exaggerated statement, 
I have subjoined in Note K some remarks in confirmation of it, extracted from 
works published several years ago. 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



3G5 



selves botli the language of our formularies and that of Scripture 
itself. 

The medium between the opposite extremes we must expect to 
find, in practice, placed somewhat differently by different persons. 
But thus much, at least, may in fairness be required of all, — that 
whatever degree of strictness, or of laxity of interpretation, each per- 
son may deem right, he should allow as right for all men ahke ; and 
that he should not have one rule for himself and those who agree 
with him, and another rule for such as may think differently. 

Self-evident as is the justice of this maxim, no one will think the 
mention of it superfluous who considers how widely it has been de- 
parted from by many persons of opposite parties. One may hear 
the most vehement and indignant censures pronounced, and that 
from both sides, on such as put a forced and unnatural interpretation 
on the language of such and such portions of our formularies, while 
the complainants themselves are no less boldly explaining away the 
language of certain other portions into a conformity with their own 
views.^ 

Whatever allowance may be made for sincere errors of judgment, 
one cannot but regard those as self-condemned who adopt without 
scruple, in their own favor, a mode of procedure which, in their op- 
ponents, they loudly condemn as disingenuous. 

Note I— Page 339. 

I have seen reproaches full of scornful exultation cast on Protes- 
tants for having recourse, when treating of the subject of church 
government, to reasonings drawn from general views of human na- 
ture, and to illustrations from secular affairs, and for calculating 
what are likely to be the decisions of a synod, so and so constituted ; 

^ One among many instances that might be given of this kind of unfairness, 
is, the conduct of some persons who, at public meetings, and in various other 
ways, have been protesting against the disingenuousness of those who depart 
from the plain sense of our formularies, though they not only never expressed 
any disapprobation of the celebrated Tract 90, and other such publications, 
but even (some of them) protested publicly against the condemnation of these 
by the University of Oxford ! I have subjoined in Note L a few extracts from 
that Tract, as it may perhaps not be in the hands of some of my readers. 



31* 



366 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



without adverting to the promises of divine presence and protection 
to the church, and without expressing confidence of providential in- 
terpositions to secure it from discord, error, and other evils. 

This kind of language has, at the first glance, a plausible air ; and 
is well calculated — one cannot but think, designed — to impose 
on pious and well-intentioned, but ignorant, weak, and unreflecting 
minds among the multitude. But a sober examination will show it 
to be either wholly irrelevant to the matter in hand, or else a mere 
groundless pretence. 

It is indeed true that the Lord has promised to be with his people 
" even unto the end of the world," and that the " gates of hell," that 
is, death, " shall not prevail against his church ; " that is, that Chris- 
tianity shall never become extinct. And his " Spirit which helpeth 
our infirmities " will doubtless be granted to such as sincerely exert 
themselves in his cause ; though not necessarily so as to crown those 
exertions with such complete success, as, we know, was not granted 
to the apostles themselves. Our efforts, however, in that cause, 
whether He in His unsearchable wisdom shall see fit to make them a 
greater or a less benefit to others, will doubtless, as far as regards 
ourselves, be accepted by Him. And a pious confidence in whatever 
God has really promised, Prostestants do not fail to inculcate on 
suitable occasions. 

But when the question is as to the probable results of such and 
such a procedure in a synod, and as to the measures likely to be 
adopted by a government so and so constituted, it would manifestly 
be irrelevant to dwell on those general promises of the divine bless- 
ing. If there were a question what means should be used to protect 
a certain district from hurtful inundations, no one would think of 
cutting short the discussion by a reference to the promise made to 
Noah, that the whole earth should never again be laid waste by a 
deluge. It is evident, therefore, that the reproaches I have alluded 
to must be understood as having reference to (that which alone is 
pertinent to the question) confidence in a promise of supernatural 
interference to secure the church forever from strife, schism, and 
corruption. 

And certainly if we had received any such promise, all apprehen- 
sions, all calculations of probabilites, all reasonings from the anal- 
ogy of other human transactions, would be superseded ; and we 
should have only to " stand still and see the salvation of God." 

But every one, except the grossly ignorant and unthinking, must 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



S67 



be well aware that no such promise has ever been fulfilled^ and con- 
sequently (if the Scriptures are to be taken as a record of divine 
truth) that none such was ever made. 

We find the Apostle Paul declaring that " there must needs be 
heresies, that they who are approved may be made manifest ; " we 
find him laboring to repress the irregularities and party-spirit which 
even in his own time had crept into the church of Corinth ; and 
warning the elders of Ephesus and Miletus to *' take heed, because 
after his departure grievous wolves would enter into the fold/' 
Corruptions in doctrine, disorders, dissension, and insubordination, 
are evils of which he is continually giving notice to his people as 
what they must be prepared to encounter. 

And when we look to the ecclesiastical history of subsequent ages 
— exhibiting the sad spectacle of contests almost equally dividing 
the church between the Arians, for instance, and the Athanasians, 
on points of doctrine, and between the donatists and their oppon- 
ents, on a question of ecclesiastical polity, — besides the mutual 
anathemas of the Eastern and Western churches, and besides all the 
cabals and intrigues, and secular motives, and evil passions which 
have notoriously found their way into councils, and conclaves, and 
ecclesiastical courts, — when we contemplate all this, we see but too 
well what reason the apostle had for his warnings. 

But there is no need in the present case to resort to ancient his- 
tory. The very existence of Protestants (to say nothing of the 
Greek Church) is sufficient to nullify, in respect of the Church of 
Home, at least, the notion of an exemption from error and from 
schism being promised to tliat as to the universal or Catholic Church. 
For, the Church of Rome claims all professing Christians as properly 
belonging to it : considering Protestants as children, though disobe- 
dient children ; subjects, though revolted subjects. The very rise, 
therefore, and continued existence, of Protestantism, proves the 
non-existence in the Catholic Church (if the Church of Eome be 
supposed such) of any immunity from heresy and schism. And if 
it be attempted to avoid this conclusion by allowing that Protestants 
and members of the Greek Church are not to be regarded as in any 
way belonging to the Church of Rome, then the pretensions of that 
church to be tlie Catholic, that is, Universal Church, must be given 

up- 
Whatever plausibility, therefore, there may appear at first sight in 

the pretensions, separately taken, of that church, on the one hand 



868 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



to perfect purity of doctrine and unily, and on the otlier hand to 
universality, it is evident that both conjointly cannot be maintained 
with even any show of reason. Either the one or the other must 
be abandoned. Like the pictures of a Thaumatrope, the two will 
be found, on careful and steady observation, to be painted on oppo- 
site sides ; and it is only by a confused whirl that they can be made 
to appear in conjunction. If Protestants, and members of the Greek, 
the Armenian, and other churches do not belong to the liomish 
Church, it cannot be universal ; if (which is what its advocates ac- 
tually maintain) all Christians do belong to it, then it manifestly is 
not exempt from divisions and contrariety of doctrine. It is in vain (as 
far as the present question is concerned) to urge that the doctrine 
and procedure of Protestants, etc., are condemned by the authorities 
of the Church of Rome, and by all its sound members. For, an 
exemption from a certain evil must consist, not in its being censured 
when it arises, but in its not arising at all. Indeed, it would be very 
easy, and also quite nugatory, for any church whatever to set up 
the boast that its doctrines are received by all — except those who 
dissent from them, and that all submit to its authority — except 
those who refuse submission. 

So, also, the most insignificant state existing might pretend to 
universal empire. It is said that it is, or was, the custom for the 
Kham of Tartary, every day, as soon as he has dined, to send out a 
herald to his tent-door to make proclamation, in a loud voice, that 
all the kings of the earth are now at liberty to go to dinner. This 
may be considered as putting forth a claim to universal supremacy, 
but it would hardly be regarded as estahlisliing the claim. 

And as for exemption from error and dissension, let any one but 
consider what would be thou^^ht if an Enorlishman were to boast to 
a Hindoo or a Chinese that London enjoys the happiness of being 
exempt from all crimes and also from conflagrations ; and should 
afterwards explain his meaning to be, that all crimes are forbidden 
by law ; the perpetrator being liable, when detected and apprehended, 
to be punished as the law directs ; and that though fires do break 
out, from time to time, there are fire-engines ready to be called out 
on such occasions. Every one would at once perceive that all this 
does not amount to what can be properly termed an exemption. 

The extraordinary Providence, therefore, which is boasted of as se- 
curing the true church from division and from error, and which Pro- 
testants are reproached with not trusting to or claiming, has evidently 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



8G9 



no existence in the very cliuroli to which those who utter the reproach 
belong. And one can hardly doubt that they must themselves be 
aware of this ; and that when they speak, in a tone of exulting 
confidence, of the miraculous exemption of their church from the 
inroads of false doctrine and dissension, they are only seeking to 
quiet the minds of the unthinking vulgar with a delusive consolation. 

How far this kind of language may work an opposite effect on 
the minds of the more educated classes — how far the great preva- 
lence of infidelity among those classes on the continent may be 
accounted for by their continually hearing, from those who, they will 
conclude, ought to know what their own Scriptures say, of promises 
having been made to the church which, it is evident, as a matter of 
experience, have not been fulfilled — is an inquiry into which I will not 
now enter. My own conviction is, that every kind of pious fraud is 
as much at variance, ultimately, with sound policy, as it is with 
Christian principle. 

I am well aware that when the two claims — that to universality, 
and that to exemption from dissension and from error — are brought 
forward in conjunction, and it is undertaken to reconcile them with 
each other, it is usual to explain one or both of them in a sense 
different from the obvious and natural meaning of the words, so as 
to render the two claims compatible. Then it is that we are told 
that " Catholic " or Universal " means only the religion of a con- 
siderable majority of professing Christians, or the religion the most 
widely diffused throughout Christendom : or we are told that the 
Universal Church means merely that which all professed Christians 
ougJit to belong to ; and that adults of sound mind who have received 
Christian baptism, and deliberately profess Christianity, are not, 
necessarily, members of the Universal Church, or Christians at all. 

And we are also told that exemption from dissension and from 
error belongs to those only who submit in all points to the decisions 
of the rulers of the Catholic Church. And, doubtless, if all man- 
kind, or any number of men, would but come to a perfect agreement 
in any one religion, — be it true or false, — they could not but be 
exempt from religious dissension, and, if not from error, at least 
from anything that they themselves would account an error. 

But surely this is to " keep the word of promise to the ear, and 
break it to the hope." It is not in any such sense that the preten- 
sions I have been speaking of are usually put forth, and naturally 
understood, when taken separately. And it is not under any such 



370 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



explanations as the above, that those pretensions are found so allur- 
ing and so satisfactory as, to a great number of persons, they are ; 
but in the natural and ordinary sense of the words. The expression 
*' Catholic" or " Universal " Church is naturally understood to de- 
note that which comprehends all Christians. And by the word 
Christians is understood those who acknowledge and professedly 
embrace the religion founded by Jesus Christ. And those who des- 
ignate any of these as heretics are so far from denying them the title 
of Christians (though unsound and perverted Christians), that they 
imply it ; since Pagans or avowed atheists are never reckoned her- 
etics. 

I am not, be it observed, defending this use of the word " Chris- 
tian " as the most advisable to be adopted, if we were framing a new 
language. It might, we will suppose, have been advisable so to de- 
fine the term that no two Christian sects or churches should apply it 
to the same persons. I am simply stating a fact as to the actual 
sense conveyed by the word in our existing language. And that 
such is the sense conveyed by it, is as much a fact as that we actually 
call the ninth month of the year September, and the tenth October; 
though if we were remodelling our language, the impropriety of 
such names would be obvious. 

And again, exemption from dissension and from error naturally 
conveys the idea, not of these evils being condemned by certain 
authorities when they arise, but of their never arising at all. 

And it is in these obvious and natural senses of the words that 
the above pretensions are, in general, — when taken separately, — 
put forth with boastful confidence, and prove so attractive and so 
consolatory to the minds of many as to be at once admitted without 
any close scrutiny as to how far they are well founded. 

But when the two claims are brought into juxtaposition, and it is 
inquired how far they are compatible^ then they are explained away 
in the manner above alluded to. The promise is made in one sense, 
and kept in the other. If King George III. and his predecessors 
had boasted that the English language was in use in all their Euro- 
pean dominions, and also that they were Kings of France^ every one 
would have seen, that, whatever might be said for each of these 
claims separately, they were incompatible with each other. 

Waiving, however, all reference to those who reject the supremacy 
of Rome, the differences that have occurred — and that have been 



ON INFANT BAPTISM. 



371 



permitted — among those who do acknowledge it, arc such that one 
cannot but wonder at the boldness with which the claim is put 
forward of a mh^aculous exemption from everything of the kind. 
The long and violent disputes indeed between Franciscans and 
Dominicans about the doctrine of the " immaculate conception," or 
those between the Jesuits and the Jansenists as to sundry important 
points of faith, — these the unlearned multitude, in many countries, 
may have never heard of. But they must surely have heard of 
books deliberately sanctioned and recommended for the use of schools 
by prelates of the highest ranlc^ and moreover approved by the pope 
himself, being denounced by other prelates of the same church, as 
not only dangerous, but fu^J of unsound doctrine. 

In the face of all this, to boast of unbroken peace and concord is 
surely a large demand on popular credulity. 



Note K — Page 364. 

" This disingenuous system is a tree which has, of late, borne 
fruits that have startled many, even of those who could not see, 
when first pointed out to them, the natural tendency of the system. 
The fundamental doctrines of our reformers have been explained 
away by interpreting their words in a non-natural sense, so as * 
allow members of our church to hold tenets the most opposite. Now^ 
how can any one be sure that the application of the principle is 
arbitrarily stopped short at this point ? Let any one examine and 
compare together these non-natural interpretations and the language, 
in reference to Christianity, of the foreign Transcendentalists who 
profess to believe that Christianity came from God, in the same 
sense in which everything comes from God ; who teach the incarna- 
tion — explaining to the initiated that this means the presence of 
the Deity, that is, of the * spiritual principle ' which pervades the 
universe — the God of Pantheism — in man, generally, as well as in 
all other animals ; and who profess a belief in man's immortality, 
that is, that the human species will never become extinct, etc. — let 
any one, I say, compare together these two systems (if indeed they 
are to be reckoned as two), and say whether there is any greater 

VIOLENCE DONE TO THE ORDINARY SENSE OF WORDS BY THE ONE 

THAN BY THE OTHER, — whether he who professes himself a church- 
man according to the one system, may not, v/ith perfect consistency, 



372 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



profess himself a Christian according to the other. Even supposing, 
therefore, that all the disciples of the school in question do inwardly 
believe in the truth of Christianity, they cannot give any sufficient 
assurance that they do so." — Introd. to Essays on Peculiarities , 5 th 
ed. pp. 8, 9. 

" It might be added that, among those who express the greatest 
dread and detestation of * German Neology,' — ' German Philosophy,' 
— ' the daring speculations of the Germans,' etc., are to be found 
some of that class of Anglican divines whose doctrines apparently 
correspond the most closely (as far as we can judge respecting two 
confessedly mystic schools) with those of that very Neology. The 
very circumstance itself that both are schools of mysticism, — that 
both parties have one system for the mass of mankind, and another 
— whether expressed in different language, or in the same words 
understood in a totally different sense — for the initiated, affords a 
presumption, when there are some points of coincidence in the doc- 
trine divulged, that a still further agreement may be expected in 
the reserved doctrines. 

" As the advocates of reserve among us speak of not intending to 
inculcate generally such conclusions as a logical reasoner will cor- 
rectly deduce by following out their principles, and, again, speak of 
an ordinary reader being likely to ' miss their real meaning by not 
being aware of the peculiar sense in which they employ terms,' so 
those German Transcendentahsts whom I allude to — whose system 
of theology, or rather of atheology, is little else than a new edi- 
tion of the Pantheism of the ancient heathen philosophers, of the 
Brahmins, and the Buddhists — use a similar double-meaning lan- 
guage. They profess Christianity, and employ profusely such 
terms as a ' God,' * faith,' ' incarnation,' ' miracle,' ' immortality,' etc., 
attaching to these words a meaning quite remote from what is com- 
monly understood by them. Their ' God ' is the God of Pantheism ; 
not a personal agent, but a certain vital principle diffused through 
the material universe, and of which every human soul is a portion ; 
which is at death to be reabsorbed into the infinite Spirit, and be- 
come just what it was before blrth,^ exactly according to the ancient 
system of philosophy described by Virgil ; ' Mens agitat molem et 
toto se corpore miscet ; Inde hominum pecudumque genus,' etc. And 
the other terms alluded to are understood by them in a sense no less 
wide from the popular acceptation. 

1 See Essay L, First Series. 



ON mFANT-BAPTISM. 



373 



Both paii:les, again, agree in deprecating all employment of 
reasoning in matters pertaining to religion ; both decry the historical 
evidence of Christianity, and discourage as profane all appeal to 
evidence ; and both disparage miracles considered as a proof of the 
divine origin of Christianity ; alleging that every event that occurs 
is equally a miracle ; meaning, therefore, exactly what in ordinary 
language would be expressed by saying that nothing is miraculous. 

" Other coincidences may be observed ; such as the strong desire 
manifested by both parties to explain away or soften down the Hne 
of demarcation between what ordinary Christians call the Scriptures^ 
and everything subsequent, — between what we call the Christian 
revelation, considered as an historical transaction recorded in the 
New Testament, and any pretended after-revelation, or improve- 
ment, or completion, or perfect development, of * the system of true 
religion.' To Christianity as a revelation completed in our sacred 
hooks^ both parties, more or less openly, according to circumstances, 
confess their objection. 

"And it is remarkable that even the vehement censures pro- 
nounced by one of these schools on the speculations of the other, 
is far from being inconsistent with their fundamental agreement in 
principles. For, of the German Neologists themselves, some of the 
leading writers strongly condemn the rashness with which some 
conclusions have been openly stated by others of the same school, 
and confessedly proceeding on principles fundamentally the same.^ 

" If any one, therefore, who belongs to a school of mystical reserve, 
should be suspected, in consequence of a remarkable agreement be- 
tween some of his acknowledged tenets and the German Neology, 
of a further degree of secret concurrence, beyond, perhaps, what he 
is really conscious of, he must not wonder at, or complain of, such 
sus]3icion ; nor expect at once to repel it by the strongest censure 
of those writers, and professed renunciation of their doctrines; 
unless he can also make up his mind to renounce likewise the system 
of a * double doctrine ' altogether, resolving and proclaiming his res- 
olution to speak henceforth ' the truth, the whole truth, and nothing 
but the truth,' respecting his religious tenets, and forswearing totally 
the practice of employing language ' in a peculiar sense,' different 
from what is ordinarily understood by it." — Kin. Ch.^ Ap.^ Note P. 

Note L — Page 365. 
" It may be objected that the tenor of the above explanations is 
1 See Dv. Wect's Discourse on Keserve. 

32 



874 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



anti-Protestant, whereas it is notorious that the articles were drawn 
up by Protestants, and intended for the establishment of Protes- 
tantism ; accordingly, that it is an evasion of their meaning to give 
them any other than a Protestant drift, possible as it may be to do 
so grammatically, and in each separate part 

" But, I. It is a duty we owe to the Catholic Church and to our 
own, to take our reformed confessions in the most catholic sense 
they will admit 

" y. The articles are evidently framed on the principle of leav- 
ing open large questions, on which the controversy hinges. They 
state broadly extreme truths, and are silent about their adjustment. 
For instance, they say that all necessary faith must be proved from 
Scripture ; but do not say who is to prove it 

" They say that councils called by princes may err : they do not 
determine whether councils called in the name of Christ will err. . . . 

" VI Since both homilies and articles appeal to the Fathers 

and catholic antiquity, let it be considered whether, in interpreting 
them by these, we are not going to the very authority to which they 
profess to submit themselves," etc. — Feast of St. John, Evang., 4th 
ed., 1841. J. H. N. 

In accordance with the principles here laid down the tract itself 
is composed throughout. See, especially, § 1. On Holy Scripture 
and the Authority of the Church. § 2. On Justification by Faith. 
§ 3. Works before and after Justification. § 4. The Visible Church. 
§ 5. General Councils. § 6. Purgatory, etc. § 7. Sacraments. § 8. 
Transubstantiation. § 9. Masses. 

On all these points, and throughout the tract, doctrines are main- 
tained totally opposite to the plain sense of the articles, and to the 
known design of their framers. And the whole object of the tract 
is, evidently, to show that a person may with a safe conscience hold 
the doctrines of one church and the endowments of another quite 
opposed to it. 

The author of the tract, however, did at length, some years after, 
as is well known, openly join the Church of Rome ; having, some 
years previously, acknowledged that the censures he had been pub- 
licly passing on that church were, at the time, not at all in accord- 
ance with his real sentiments ! 

Yet the public protest against the condemnation passed at Oxford 
on this and similar publications has never been retracted ! 

And here a question suggests itself which all must allow to be 



ON INFANT-BAPTISM. 



375 



quite pertinent to the matter in hand. Suppose an applicant for 
insiltuiion to a benefice^ who should hold either such doctrines as the 
foregoing, or the extreme contrary ones, or any others whatever, to 
adopt that system of interpretation alluded to, might he not thus 
avoid all the cUfficuliies and contests which might otherwise be appre- 
hended ? He would only have to give to all inquiries such answers 
as might be most satisfactory to the Diocesan ; and when in posses- 
sion of his living, might preach the direct contrary of what he had 
before said ; alleging that he had been " using luords in a peculiar 
sense" 

Those who would regard such a procedure, or anything even re- 
motely approaching to it, as unpardonable in one whose doctrinal 
views they disapprove, but allowable in the cause of what they 
consider as orthodoxy, — these, if their sincerity is doubted when 
they profess to abhor disingenuousness, cannot surely complain of 
uncharitable treatment. 

Then, again, several writers on the opposite side pursue a similar 
plan. One of these describes himself as having " nailed his colors 
to the mast of the evangelical party." Of course his real meaning 
is the converse. He doubtless means that it is not his colors, but 
the colors of the evangelical party that he has nailed, not to 
their mast, but to his. The metaphor is a common one, and quite 
intellidble. In a sea-fioht, a commander who nails the flasf of his 
country to the mast of his ship, is understood to have resolved that 
he will never surrender to any force that can be brought against 
him, but will suffer his vessel to be sunk rather than yield. And in 
a controversy, accordingly, — the weapons employed being not bul- 
lets, but arguments, — to announce a corresponding determination 
is to proclaim a resolution not to yield to any arguments, but to 
maintain the opinion once formed, whatever reasons, strong or weak, 
may be adduced against it. 

Accordingly, this writer, having set forth certain views which he 
regards as unauthorized by Scripture, proceeds to remark, that, this 
being so, " We necessarily conclude A pbiori, that they form no 

part of the creed of the Church of England." " Against this, 

however," he goes on to say, " it will be objected that the formularies 
of the church do nevertheless contain some expressions which seem 
to countenance those doctrines, and, therefore, that either the doc- 
trine so favored is scriptural, or that the formulary which implies it is 
not scriptural. The question then is, upon the assumption that the 



376 



WHATELY'S ESSAYS. 



said doctrine Is not scriptural, whether our church be inconsistent 
with its own rule of faith ? To which the answer is here given in 
the negative. And the reason is this, — ' that rule of faith which ex- 
cludes from our creed all that is not scriptural, excludes also from 
our formularies every acceptation which is not scriptural. And, con- 
sequently, every minister of the Church of England is inevitably 
bound, both by his subscription and by his ordination vow, to put 
such a construction upon the words of our church services as shall he 
in agreement with its rule of faiths 

Now this is exactly of a piece with the procedure of the author 
of Tract 90, above cited. Our reformers, he assumes, considered 
themselves (as they certainly did) to be in agreement with " catholic 
antiquity;" and then, having laid down what — in his opinion — 
catholic antiquity decides, he proceeds to wrest the language of our 
reformers into a conformity with this; just as the other writer forces 
their language into an agreement with his view of Scripture. 

It is curious to observe that this is, almost word for word, the 
plea upon which the Arians of the last century endeavored to justify 
themselves in subscribing the formularies of our church. Those 
formularies, they admitted, contained some expressions which seemed 
to countenance (what they called) the vulgar notions about the 
Trinity ; but then " the Protestant churches require men to comply 
with their forms merely on account of their being agreeable to 
Scripture, and consequently in such sense only wherein they are 
agreeable to Scripture ; ^ " and as it seemed evident to them (the Ari- 
ans) that the Athanasian doctrine was quite repugnant to Scripture, 
they " necessarily concluded, a priori" that it was not, to them, the 
just meaning of our formularies. 



1 See Clarke's Introduction to The Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity. 



WARREN F. DRAPER, 

PUBLISHER AJfD BOOKSELLER, 

ANDOVER, MASS., 

PUBLISHES AIO) OFFERS FOR SALE THE FOLLOWING, WHICH WILL BE SEOT 
POST PAID ON RECEIPT OF THE SUM NAMED. 



GTJERICKE'S CHUilCH HISTOBY (Ancient Church; including the 
First Six Centuries). Translated by William G. T. Shedd, Brown Professor 
in Andover Theological Seminary. 442 pp. 8yo. $2.75. 

The established credit of Guericke's labors in the department of Ecclesiastical History, and the 
use made of his works by many English writers will make this volume acceptable to a very large 
class of students and readers. — • London Journal of Saa-ed Literature, 

Guericke's History is characterized by research, devoutness, firm grasp of evangelical truth, 
and careful exhibition of the practical as well as the intellectual aspects of Christianity. — ^oriA 

British Review. 

We regard Professor Shedd 's version as a happy specimen of the transfusion, rather than a 
translation^ which many of the German treatises should receive. The style of his version is far 
superior to that of the original. — Bihliotheca Sacra. 

Among the most faithful, and yet the most independent, of the followers of Neander, may be 
mentioned Guericke, who carries out Neander's plan in a more compendious form, but with an 
almost bigoted attachment to the peculiar doctrines of Luther, in a style bo crabbed and involved, 
that we should not have hesitated to pronounce it untranslatable, but for the fact that an eminent 
teacher and accomplished writer of our own country has achieved what we regarded as a sheer 
impossibility. We are glad to have a book made legible in English, which, in spite of its original 
uncouthness, has been eminently useful, as a vehicle, not only of the best historical knowledge, 
but of sincere piety, and sound religiouB sentiment in reference to all essentials. — Princeton 
Eeview, 

In clearness the style of the translation exceeds the original. The natural animation and life- 
like character, which commonly vanish in the process of translating from the German, have been 
retained with signal success. We are disposed to consider it the best of the current text-books 
for the use for which Prof. Shedd designs it. — li'ew Englander. 

Here is a Manual of Church History which may be confidently recommended, without reserve 
or qualification, to students belonging to all evangelical churches. Guericke is thoroughly Or- 
thodox. His evangelical belief and feeling give him a lively and appreciative interest in the in- 
ternal history of the Church ; he devotes special attention to the development of doctrines, and 
presents the range of thought and substance of opinion distinguishing the works of the princi- 
pal writers in successive ages of the Church. Guericke's manual is complete in the particular 
lines of history he has chosen, and is a most useful and reliable book for the theological class- 
room. Professor Shedd has wisely translated with freedom, and has improved the structure of the 
work. — Nonconformist. 

We are glad that a Manual of Church History has appeared which exhibits, at once, undoubted 
orthodoxy, and that grasp of mind which alone is capable of treating such a subject with a lu- 
minous and lively brevity. — Clerical Journal. 

With the additions and improvements made in the successive editions, it \s now, on the whole, 
the most readable work on Church History to be found. We have used the original for some 
years, and entirely agree with the translator, that it hits the mean between an offensive fullnesi 
and a barren epitome. — Central Christian Herald. 

(1) 



Publications of W. F, Draper^ Andover. 



DISCOURSES AND ESSAYS. By William G. T. Shedd. 324 pp 
12mo. $1.50. 

The striking sincerity, vigor, and learning of this volume will be admired even by those read- 
ers who cannot go with the author in all his opinions. Whatever debate the philosophical ten- 
dencies of the book may challenge, its literary ability and moral spirit will be commended every 
where. — New Englander. 

These elaborate articles are written in a lucid and racy style, and invest with a rare interest the 
themes of which they treat. -- JBibliotheca Sacra. 

These Discourses are all marked by profound thought, and perspicuity of sentiment.— 

Princeton Review* 

The Essay on a Natural Rhetoric we earnestly commend to all persons who publicly assume 
either to speak or to write. — Universalist Quarterly, 

Few clearer and more penetrating minds can be found in our country than that of Prof. Shedd. 
If the mind gets dull, or dry, or ungovernable, put it to grappling with these masterly produc- 
tions. — Congregational Herald^ Chicago, 

Each of these Discourses is profoundly and ingeniously elaborated, and the volume as a whole 
is a testimony to highly intellectual and consistent views of evangelical truth. -- Boston Recorder. 

IiECTURES TJPOnsr THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTOBY. By 

William G. T. Shedd. 128 pp. 12mo. 75 cts. 

Professor Shedd has already achieved a high reputation for the union of philosophic insight 
with genuine scholarship, of depth and clearness of thought with force and elegance of style, 
and for profound views of sin and grace, cherished not merely on theoretical, but still more on 
moral and experimental grounds. — Princeton Review. 

This volume consists of four lectures, of which the following are the titles: The Abstract Idea 
of History; The Nature and Definition of Secular History; The Nature and Definition of Church 
History; The Verifying Test in Church History. It is written in a lucid style, and will interest 
the students of theology and of history. — Btbliotheca Sacra. 

The style of these Lectures has striking merits. The author chooses his words with rare skill 
and taste, from an ample vocabulary; and writes with strength and refreshing simplicity. The 
Philosophy of Realism, in application to history and historical theology, is advocated by vigorous 
reasoning, and made intelligible by original and felicitous illustrations. — New Englander. 

The " Lectures upon the Philosophy of History," is an extraordinary specimen of the meta- 
physical treatise, and the charm of its rhetoric is not less noticeable. Prof. Shedd never puts his 
creed under a bushel, but there are few students of any sect or class that will not derive great as- 
sistance from his labors. — Universalist Qvxirterly, 

It bears the impress of an elegant as well as highly philosophical mind. — Boston Recorder, 

OUTIillSrES OF A SYSTEMATIC RHETOKIO. From the German 
of Dr. Francis Theremin, by William G. T. Shedd. Third and Revised 
Edition, with an Introductory Essay by the translator, pp. 216. 12mo. ^1.00. 

Advanced students will find it well worthy of perusal. The adoption of its leading ideas would 
ennoble the art of rhetoric into a science, the practice of speaking into a virtue, and would clothe 
the whole subject in our schools and colleges with a fresh and vital interest. — Bibliotheca 
Sacra. 

Every minister and theological professor (in composition and rhetoric especially) should read 
it. A more thorough and suggestive, and, in the main, sensible view of the subject is hardly to be 
found. The central idea of Theremin's theory is, that Eloquence is a Virtue, and he who reads 
this little book will be sure to receive an impulse in the direction of masculine thoughtful dia* 
course. — Congregational Herald. 



Publications ofW.F, Draper. 



EIiIiICOTT'S COMMElNrTAIlY, CRITICAIi AND GRAMMAT- 
ICAL, on St, Paul's Epistle to the Galatians. With an Introductory Notice 
by C. E. Stowe, Professor in Andover Theological Seminary. 8vo. pp. 183. 
$175. 

The Commentaries of Prof. Ellicott supply an urgent want in their sphere of criticism. Prof. 
Stowe says of them, in his Notice: "It is the crowning excellence of these Commentaries that 
they are exactly what they profess to be, critical and grammatical, and therefore, in the best 
sense of the term, exegetical His results are worthy of all confidence. lie is more care- 
ful than Tischendorf, slower and more steadily deliberate than Alford, and more patiently 
laborious than any other living New Testament critic, with the exception, perhaps, of Tregel- 
les." 

" They [EUicott's Commentaries] have set the first example, in this country, [England] of a 
thorough and fearless examination of the grammatical and philological requirements of every 
word of the sacred text. I do not know of anything superior to them, in their own particular 
line, in Germany; and they add, what, alas! is so seldom found in that country, profound 
reverence for the matter and subjects on which the author is laboring; nor is their value 
lessened by Mr. EUicott's having confined himself for the most part to one department of a 
commentator's work — the grammatical and philological." — - Dean Alford. 

" The critical part is devoted to the settling of the text, and this is admirably done, with a 
labor, skill, and conscientiousness unsurpassed." — i5t6. Sacra, 

" We have never met with a learned commentary on any book of the New Testament bo 
nearly perfect in every respect as the ' Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians,' by Profl 
Ellicott, of King's College, London, — learned, devout, and orthodox." — 7ndepenc?enf. 

*' We would recommend all scholars of the original Scriptures who seek directness, luminous 
brevity, the absence of everything irrelevant to strict grammatical inquiry, with a concise and 
yet very complete view of the opinions of others, to possess themselves of EUicott's Commen- 
taries." — American Fresbyterian, 

COMMEISTTAIIT ON EPHESIANS. 8vo. pp.190. $.175. 

COMMENTARY ON THESSALONIANS. Svo. pp. 171. S1.75. 

COMMENTARY ON THE PASTOBAL EPISTLES. Svo. $2.50. 

COMMENTARY ON PHUiIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS, AND 
PHILEMON. $2.50. 

HENDERSON ON THE MINOR PROPHETS. THE BOOK 
OF THE TWELVE IMINOR PROPHETS. Translated from the Original 
Hebrew. With a Commentary, Critical, Philological, and Exegetical. By 
E. Henderson, D.D. With a Biographical Sketch of the Author, by E. P. 
Barrows, Hitchcock Professor in Andover Theological Seminary. Svo. 
pp. 490. $ 4.00. 

*• This Commentary on the Minor Prophets, like that on the Prophecy of Isaiah, has been 
highly and deservedly esteemed by professional scholars, and has been of great service to the 
working ministry. We are happy to welcome it in an American edition, very neatly printed.** 
— Bib. Sacra. 

" Clergymen and other students of the Bible will be glad to see this handsome American 
edition of a work which has a standard reputation in its department, and which fills a place 
that is filled, so far as we know, by no other single volume in the English language. Dr. Hen- 
derson was a good Hebrew and Biblical scholar, and in his Commentaries he is intelligent, 
brief, and to the point." — Boston Recorder. 

" The American publisher issues this valuable work with the consent and approbation of the 
author, obtained from himself before his death. It is published in substantial and elegant style, 
clear white paper and beautiful type. The work is invaluable for its philological research and 
critical acumen. The notes are learned, reliable, and practical, and the volume deserves a 
place in every theological student's library." American Presbyterian, etc. 

" Of all his Commentaries none are more popular than his Book of the Minor Prophets." — 
Christian Observer. 

" This is probably the best Commentary extant on the Minor Prophets. The work ii worthy 
of a place in the library of every scholar and every diligent and earnest reader of the Bible." — 
Oirisiian Chronicle. 

" We have met with no so satisfactory a commentary on this part of the prophetic Scrip- 
tures."— Watchman Sf Reflector, 

CS) 



Puhlications ofW.F. Draper, 



COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE BOMANS. By 

Moses Stuart, late Professor of Sacred Literature in the Theological 
Seminary at Andover. Third Edition. Edited and revised by Prof. R. D. 
C. RoBBiNS. 12mo. pp. 544. 82.25. 

" His Commentary on the Romans is the most elaborate of all his works. It has elicited more 
discussion than any of his other exegetical volumes. It is the result of long continued, patient 
thought. It expresses, in clear style, his maturest conclusions. It has the animating influence 
of an original treatise, written on a novel plan, and under a sense of personal responsibility. 
Regarding it in all its relations, its antecedents and consequents, we pronounce it the most 
important Commentary which has appeared in this country on this Epistle."— Bib. Sacra. 

" We heartily commend this work to all students of the Bible. The production of one of the 
first Biblical scholars of our age, on the most important of all the doctrinal books of the New 
Testament, it deserves the careful study, not only of those who agree with Prof Stuart in his 
tlieological and exegetical principles, but of those who earnestly dissent from some of his 
views in both respects." — Watchman and Reflector. 

" This contribution by Prof Stuart has justly taken a high place among the Commentaries 
on the Epistle to the Romans, and, with his other works, will always be held in high estimation 
by the student of the Sacred Scriptures."— iVeu; York Observer, 

COMMENTABY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBHEWS. 

By Prof. M. Stuart. Third Edition. Edited and revised by Prof. R. D. C. 
RoBBiNS. 12mo. pp. 575. $2.25. 

" It is a rich treasure for the student of the original. As a commentator, Prof. Stuart was 
especially arduous and faithful in following up the thought and displaying the connection of a 
passage, and his work as a scholar will bear comparison with any that have since appeared oa 
either side of the Atlantic." — American Presbyterian. 

" This Commentary is classical, both as to its literary and its theological merits. The edition 
before us is very skilfully edited, by Professor Robbins, and gives in full Dr. Stuart's text, with 
additions bringing it down to the present day." — Episcopal Recorder. 

" We have always regarded this excellent Commentary as the happiest effort of the late 
Andover Professor. It seems to us well-nigh to exhaust the subjects which the author compre- 
hended in his plan." — Boston Recorder. 

" It is from the mind and heart of an eminent Biblical scholar, whose labors in the cause of 
Bacred learning will not soon be forgotten." — Christian Observer. 

COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. By Prof. 
M. Stuart. 12mo. pp.432. ^175. 

" This is the last work from the pen of Prof. Stuart. Both this Commentary and the one 
preceding it, on Ecclesiastes, exhibit a mellowness of spirit which savors of the good man ripen- 
ing for heaven; and the style is more condensed, and, in that respect, more agreeable, than in 
Bome of the works which were written in the unabated freshness and exuberant vigor of his 
mind. In learning and critical acumen they are equal to his former works. No English 
reader, we venture to say, can elsewhere find so complete a philological exposition of these two 
important books of the Old Testament." — Bib. Sacra. 

COMMENTARY ON ECOIiESIASTES. By Moses Stuart, late 
Professor of Sacred Literature in the Theological Seminary at Andover. 
Second Edition. Edited and revised by R. D. C. Eobbins, Professor in Mid- 
dlebury College. 12mo. $1.50. 

The Introduction discusses the general nature of the book; its special design and method, 
diction, authority, credit, and general history; ancient and modern versions, and commentaries. 
The Commentary is strictly and minutely exegetical. 

STUART'S MISCELLANIES, pp. 869. 12mo. $1.00. 

Contents. — I. Letters to Dr. Channing on the Trinity. — II. Two Sermons on the Atone- 
ment.— III. Sacramental Sermon on the Lamb of God. — IV. Dedication Sermon. — Real 
Christianity. — V. Letter to Dr. Channing on Religious Liberty. — VI. Supplementary Notes 
and Postscripts. 

STUART'S GREEK GRAMMAR OP THE NEW TESTA- 

MENT DIALECT. Second Edition. Corrected and rewritten. 8vo. $1.00 

STUART'S HEBREW CHRESTOMATHY. Designed as an Intro- 
duction to a coui'se of Hebrew Study. Third Edition, 8vo. pp. 231. $1.00. 



Publications of W, F, Draper, 



WORKS OF IjEOK"ARD WOODS, D. D. 5 vols. 8vo. S 12.00. 

Vols. I., II. and III., Lectures. — Vol. IV., Letters and Essays. — Vol. V. Essays and Ser- 
mons. A new Edition, on superior paper. 

WORKS OF JESSE APPIjETOTsT, D. D., late President of Bowdoin 
College, embracing his Course of Theological Lectures, his Academic Ad- 
dresses, and a selection from his Sermons, with a Memoir of his Life and 
Character. 2 Vols. 8vo. $3.00. 

"They will ever form standard volumes in American Theological Literature."— jBifeZical 
Repositoi-y, 1837, p. 249. 

AUGTJSTITJTSM AISTD PELAGIAlSriSM. By G. F. Wiggers, D. D. 
Translated from the German, by Professor R. Emerson, D.D. pp. 383. 
8vo. $1.50. 

CODEX VATICAinJS. H KAINH AIAGHKH. Novum Testamentum 
Graece, ex antiquissimo Codice Vaticano edidit Angelus Maius, S. R. E. 
Card. 8vo. $3.00. 

Professor Tischendorf and Dr. Tregelles ascribe its date as early as to the middle of the 
fourth century. It has generally been held to be the most venerable manuscript of the New 
Testament. It has been guarded with great vigilance by the authorities of the Vatican. A 
thorough collation, even, has never before been permitted, though often sought. The present 
work is an exact reprint. 

WRITmGS OF PKOFESSOR B. B. EDWARDS. With a Memoir 
by Prof. Edwards A. Park. 2 vols. 12mo. $2.50. 

These works consist of seven Sermons, sixteen Essays, Addresses and Lectures, and a 
Memoir by Professor Park. 

ERSKIWE ON" THE USTTERWAIi EVIDEITCE FOR THE 

TRUTH OF REVEALED RELIGION. Third American, from the Fifth 
Edinburgh Edition, pp. 139. 16mo. 75 cts. 

" The entire treatise cannot fail to commend the positions which it advocates to intelligent 
and considerate minds. It is one of the best, perhaps the best, of all the discussions of this 
momentous subject." — Congregationalist. 

♦« This argument of Erskine for the Internal Evidence of the Truth of Revealed Religion, is 
the mo#t compact, natural, and convincing we have ever read from any author." — Chris. Chron. 

" No man ought to consider himself as having studied theology unless he has read, and pon- 
dered, and read again, 'Erskine on the Internal Evidence.'" — inc/ependeni. 

PLUTAROHUS DE SERA NUMIISriS VUNTDIOTA. Plutarch on the 
Delay of the Deity in the Punishment of the Wicked. With Notes by H. B. 
Hackett, Professor of Biblical Literature in Newton Theological Institution, 
pp. 172. 12mo. 60 cents. 

[See a review of this work in Bib. Sacra, p. 609, 1856.] 

PUIQ'CHARD'S VIEW OF COTsTGREQATIOlSrAIiISM, its Principles 
and Doctrines, the Testimony of Ecclesiastical History in its favor, its Prac- 
tice and its advantages. With an Introductory Essay by R. S. Storks, D. D. 
Second edition. 16mo. pp. 331. 38 cents. 

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SPECTJLATIVE PHI- 
LOSOPHY FROM KANT TO HEGEL. From the German of Dr. H. M. 
Chalybaeus. With an Introductory Note by Sir William Hamilton. 
pp.413. 12mo. $1.25. 

" One of the best of the many Introductions which have been prepared to lead the inquirer to 
a knowledge of the recent speculative philosophy." — Bib. Sacra. 

" Those who are in search of knowledge on this perplexed subject, without having time to 
investigate the original sources for information, will receive great assistance from this careful, 
thorough, and perspicuous analysis." — Biblical Repertori/., and Princeton Review, 



Puhlications ofW.F. Draper^ Andover, 



a?HEOLOaiA GEBMAlSriCA. Which setteth forth many fair lineaments 
of Divine Truth, and saith very lofty and lovely things touching a Perfect Life. 
Edited by Dr. Pfeiffer, from the only complete manuscript yet known. 
Translated from the German by Susanna Winkworth. With a Preface by 
the Rev. Charles Kingsley, Rector of Eversley ; and a Letter to the Trans- 
lator, by the Chevalier Bunsen, D. D., D. C. L., etc. ; and an Introduction 
by Prof. Calvin E. Stowe, D. D. 275 pp. 16mo. Cloth, $1.50. 

This treatise was discovered by Luther, who first brought it into notice by an edition which 
he published in 1516, of which he says : " And I will say, though it be boasting of myself, and 
* I speak as a fool,' that, next to the Bible and St. Augustine, no book hath ever come into my 
hands whence I have learnt, or would wish to learn, more of what God and Christ, and man, 
and all things, are." 

*' The times and the circumstances in which this most rich, thoughtful, and spiritually 
quickening little treatise was produced, — the national and ecclesiastical tendencies and influ- 
ences which invested its author, and which gave tone, direction, and pressure to his thoughts, 
— are amply and well set forth in the preface by Mias Winkworth, and the letter of Bunsen. 
The treatise itself is richly deserving of the eulogies upon it so emphatically and atFectionately 
uttered by Prof. Stowe and Mr. Kingsley, and, long before them, by Luther, who said that it 
had profited him ' more than any other book, save only the Bible and the works of Augustine/ 
Sin, as a universal disease and defilement of the nature of man ; Christ, as an indwelling life, 
light, and heavenly power ; Holiness, as the utmost good for the soul ; and Heaven, as the 
state or place of the consummation of this holiness, with the consequent vision of God, and 
the ineffable joy and peace, — these are the theme of the book. And it has the grand, and in 
this day the so rare and almost singular merit, of having been prompted by a real and deep relig- 
ious experience, and of having been written, not with outward assistance, but with the enthu- 
siasm, the spiritual wisdom, and the immense inward freedom and energy, of a soul itself con- 
scious of union with Christ, and exulting in the sense of being made, through him, ' a partaker 
of the Divine nature.' 

" Those who have known the most of Christ will value most this *' golden treatise.'* Those 
whose experience of the divine truth has been deepest and most central will find the most in 
it to instruct and to quicken them. To such it will be an invaluable volume worth thousands 
upon thousands of modern scientific or hortatory essays upon " Religion made easy." 

" It is printed by Mr. Draper, at the Andover press, in the old English style, with beautiful 
cartfulness and skill, and is sent, post paid, to all who remit him one dollar." — Independent. 

** The work is at once a literary curiosity and a theological gem." — Puritan Recorder. 
This little volume, which is brought out in antique type, is, apart from its intrinsic value, a 
curiosity of literature. It may be regarded as the harbinger of the Protestant Reformation." — 
Evening Traveller, 

THB CONFESSIONS OF ST. AUGUSTINE. Edited, with au 
Introduction, by Prof. W. G. T. Shedd. ^160. 

"In this beautiful edition of Augustine's Confessions, published in the antique style, the 
translation has been carefully revised by Prof. Shedd, of Andover, from a comparison with the 
Latin text. His Introduction presents a fine analysis of Augustine's religious experience in its 
bearing upon his theological system. Both the intellect and the heart of the modern preacher 
maybe refreshed and stimulated by the frequent perusal of these confessions." — Independent. 

" Prof. Shedd has earned our heartfelt thanks for this elegant edition of Augustine's Confes- 
sions. The book Is profitable for the Christian to study, and we would commend it as a daily 
companion in the closet of the intelligent believer who desires to be taught the way to holiness 
through communion of the Spirit. Prof. Shedd's Introduction is a masterly essay, which itself 
is a volume for attentive reading. It ought to be read before the book is begun. Thorough, 
searching, and discriminating beyond the facts it communicates, its instructions and hints are 
suggestive and invaluable." — JT. T. Observer. 

" This is a beautiful edition of a precious work. The Confessions of Augustine are so honest, 
that we easily become enthusiastic in their praise. The depth of his piety, the boldness of his 
imagination, the profoundness of his genius, his extravagant conceptions, his very straining and 
stretching of philosophical and biblical statements, have all a certain charm which ensuresf for 
his works an enduring popularity."— j5tiE>. Sacra, 1860, p. 671. 

*' We have long wanted to see just such an edition of Augustine's Confessions. The editor 
has done a public service in introducing it ; and its typographical beauty is no small recom- 
mendation of it." — Presbyterian^ June 23, 1860. , _ , 

(®) 



Publications ofW.F, Draper. 



MESSIAHIC PROPHECY AND THE LIFE OF CHRIST. 

By Rev. W. S. Kennedy. 12mo. pp. 484. $1.25. 

" The plan of the author is to collect all the prophecies of the Old Testament referring to the 
Messiah, -vrith appropriate comments and reflections, and then to pursue the subject through 
the New Testament in the life of Christ as he appeared among men. The reader will find the 
results of Hengstenberg and Neander here gathered up, and presented in a readable shape." — 
The Presbyterian. 

" This is a work of great comprehensiveness. Here, in thf compass of less than five hundred 
duodecimo pages, we have the CbHstology of the Old an;i New Testament Scriptures, some- 
thing like a combination of the Christology of Hengstenberg and Neander's Life of Christ. Of 
course the fulness of these great works is not imitated, but the reader will find the results of 
these and similar investigations carefully gathered up, and presented in a cj.ear, readable shape. 
The Life of Christ is based upon Robinson's Harmony of the Gospels." — AmeHcan Presbyterian, 

SCHAUFPIiER'S MEDITATION'S OK" THE LAST DAYS OF 
CHRIST. 12mo. pp.439. S1.25. 

The first sixteen chapters of the book consist of Meditations on the last days of Christ, 
preached in the midst of plague and death, by Rev. Mr. Schaufiier, at Constantinople; the second 
part, of eight sermons on the 17th chapter of John, and is a practical exposition of that chapter. 

BIBLE HISTORY OF PRAYER. By C. A. Goodrich. 12mo. 
pp.384. S1.25. 

The aim of this little volume is to embody an account of the delightful and successful inter- 
course of believers with heaven for some four thousand years. The author has indulged a 
good deal in narrative, opening and explaining the circumstances which gave birth to the 
several prayers. 

MOlSrOD'S DISCOURSES OlST THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL. 

Translated from the French, by Rev. J. H. Myers, D.D. 12mo. pp. 191. 
90cts. 

** The aim of the author is to present an estimate of the character, labors, and writings of the 
apostle Paul in the light of an example, and to apply the principles which actuated him, and 
which he maintained, to Christiana of the present day." — Boston Journal. 

"These Discourses are distinguished for genuine eloquence, thorough research, and pro- 
found thought, accompanied with a glowing, earnest spirit, adapting the lessons of the great 
Apostle to the spiritual wants of men." — Christian Obsei'ver. 

HYMITS AND CHOIRS: OR, THE MATTER AISTD THE MAN"- 

KER OF THE SERVICE OF SONG IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD. 
By Austin Phelps, and Edwards A. Park, Professors at Andover, and 
Daniel L. FuRBER, Pastor at Newton. 12mo. pp.425. $150. 

This volume describes the true design and character of Hymns; it comments on their rhetor- 
ical structure and style ; points out the proper method of uttering them in public worship ; and 
the most important principles and rules for congregational singing. 

SELECT SERMONS OF REV. WORTHrKTGTOIT SMITH. D. D. 

With a Memoir of his Life, by Rev. Joseph Torrey, D. D., Professor in 
Burlington College. 12mo. pp.380. S1.25. 

*' This is a memorial volume of Dr. Smith, late President of tlie Vermont University, and 
was prepared at the request of many of his friends. An interesting Memoir of his Life, edited 
by Rev. Joseph Torrey, D. D., Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, introduces the 
Sermons. Dr. Smith was a native of Hadley, Mass., and was for many years pastor over a 
religious society in St. Albans, Vermont. For six years he officiated as President of the Ver- 
mont University at Burlington, which office he resigned in consequence of ill health, and died 
a few months afterward. The Memoir is followed by sixteen Sermons on various subjects." — 
Boston Daily Advertiser. 

THE DEBATE BETWEEN" THE CHURCH AND SCIENCE; 

or, The Ancient Hebraic Idea of the Six Days of Creation. With an Essay on 
the Literary Character of Tayler Lewis. 12mo. pp. 437. % 1.25. 



Publications of F, Draper. 



DODEKIiEm'S HAND-BOOK OF LATIW SYNONYMES. 

Translated by Rev. H. H. Arnold, B. A., with an Introduction by S. H. 
Taylor, LL. D. New Edition, with an Index of Greek words. 16mo. pp. 
267. 1.25. 

" The present hand-book of Doderlein is remarkable for the brevity, distinctness, perspicuity, 
and appositeness of its definitions. It will richly reward not merely the classical, but the gen- 
eral student, for the labor he may devote to it. It is difficult to open the volume, even at random, 

without discovering some hint which may be useful to a theologian From the preceding 

extracts, it will be seen that this hand-book is useful in elucidating many Greek as well as Latin 
cynonymes." — ^i6. Sacra. 

*' The little volume mentioned above, introduced to the American public by an eminent 
Scholar and Teacher, Samuel H. Taylor, LL. D., is one of the best helps to the thorough appre- 
ciation of the nice shades of meaning in Latin words that have met my eye. It deserves the 
attention of teacljers and learners, and will amply reward patient study." — D, Sanborn^ late 
Professor of Latin in Dartmouth College. 

" The study of it will conduce much to thorough and accurate knowledge of the old Eoman 
tongue. To the present edition is appended an ' Index of Greek words,' which embraces all 
the Greek words contained in the Latin Synonymes, and affords valuable aid in the elucidation 
of Greek Synonymes."— J5os«on JSecorder. 

POIjITICAIi ECOITOMY. Designed as a Text-Book for Colleges. By 
John Bascom, A. M., Professor in Williams College. 12nio. pp. 866. 
^150. 

"It goes over the whole ground in a logical order. The matter i^perspicuously arranged 
under distinct chapters and sections; it is a compendious exhibition of the principles of the 
science without prolonged disquisitions on particular points, and it is printed in the style for 
which the Andover Press has long been deservedly celebrated." — Princeton Review. 

" This work is one of value to the student. It treats of the relations and character of political 
economy, its advantages as a study, and its history. Almost every subject in the range of the 
science is here touched upon and examined in a manner calculated to interest and instruct the 
reader." — Amherst Express. 

*' The book is worthy a careful study, both for the views it contains and as a mental training. 
The author understands himself, and has evidently studied his subject well. The style in which 
it is put forth also commends it to the reading community." — ^t;e??mgr Express. 

" This is a valuable work upon a subject of much interest. Professor Bascom writes well, 
and his book makes an excellent manual. His stand-point in the middle of the 19th century 
gives it a character quite unlike that of the older works upon the subject." — jBosfon Recorder, 

BUSSELIj'S PUTiPIT EIiOCUTION. Comprising Remarks on the 
Effect of Manner in public Discourse ; the Elements of Elocution applied to 
the Reading of the Scriptures, Hymns and Sermons ; with Observations on 
the Principles of Gesture ; and a Selection of Exercises in Reading and 
Speaking. With an Introduction by Prof. E. A. Park and Rev. E. N. 
Kirk. 413 pp. 12mo. Second Edition. $150. 

*' Mr. Russell is known as one of the masters of elocutionary science in the United States. 
He has labored long, skilfully, and successfully in that most interesting field, and has acquired 
an honored name among the teachers and writers upon rhetoric. It is one of the most thorough 
publications upon the subject, and is admirably addressed to the correction of the various 
defects which diminish the influence of pulpit discourses. It is abready an established authority 
in many places." — Literary World. 

HISTOBIOAIi MANUAL OF THE SOUTH CHURCH IN AN- 
DOVER, MASS. Compiled by Rev. George Mooar; With a portrait of 
Rev. Samuel Phillips, first Pastor of the Church. 12mo. pp 200. ^ 1.25. 
*• This manual has a value far beyond the promise made in its title-page. Henceforth, what- 
ever may befall the records of the South Church in Andover, or even the Church itself,— 
though both were blotted from the earth, — its history for a hundred and fifty years is safe. And 
in that history is embraced an amount of instruction rarely condensed into so small a space. 
The catalogue of members, numbering 2,177, indicates the date and manner of admission — 
whether by profession or letter; the date and manner of removal — whether by death, dismis- 
Bion, or excommunication; generally the age of the deceased, and, if females who married 
during their membership, the names of their husbands." — Congregational Quarterly, 

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